Kolkata Knight Riders report Nitish Rana as substitute commander for IPL 2023 without harmed Shreyas Iyer

Nitish Rana has been named captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the 2023 Indian Premier League season. On Monday, March 27, the franchise made its decision public via an Instagram post. Rana will be taking over from Shreyas Iyer, who right now stays down and out because of a back physical issue and it isn't known exactly when he can get back to activity.

After BCCI sources told the Indian media that Iyer might choose back surgery because of his frequent issues, Kolkata made the announcement. Iyer will be out of commission for at least 4-6 months, depending on how quickly he recovers from surgery.

In a statement on Monday, KKR stated that they hoped for Iyer to return during the IPL 2023, but that they are fortunate to be able to hand over the captaincy to the left-hander, who has been an essential component of the KKR batting order since 2018.

"We are fortunate that Nitish will do a great job because he has captaincy experience from leading his state team in white ball cricket and IPL experience from KKR since 2018. "We are also confident that under the direction of Head Coach Chandrakant Pandit and the support staff, he will receive all the necessary support off the field, and the highly experienced leaders in the squad will provide all the necessary support for Nitish on the field," KKR stated in a statement.

Rana will be taking on this role full-time for the first time, as he has never captained on a major stage before. Rana has been a significant component of KKR's batting order, which has performed admirably throughout the tournament, with uncapped Indian players like Rinku Singh shining brightest.

Nitish Rana will be under the direction of Chadrakanth Pandit, a much-worshipped name in Indian homegrown cricket. By turning weak teams into champions, Pandit established himself as a household name in the domestic scene. It will be expected Pandit to bring KKR back to its former glory.