Rajasthan Royals name Keshav Maharaj as Prasidh Krishna’s replacement

Rajasthan Royals have named 34-year-old Keshav Maharaj as a replacement for the injured Prasidh Krishna. Krishna was expected to have a major role for the Royals this season, but the Karnataka pacer had to undergo surgery on his left proximal quadriceps tendon. 

The left-arm South African spinner was earlier with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to train ahead of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States of America. Maharaj has picked up 24 T20I wickets, averaging 27.95. He was instrumental in Durban’s Super Giants reaching the final with 15 wickets in the competition, averaging 20.46 in the tournament. 

Kolkata name Allah Ghazanfar as Mujeeb’s replacement

Meanwhile, elsewhere, the two-time IPL winners Kolkata Knight Riders have named the 16-year-old Afghani spinner Allah Ghazanfar in their setup. The off-spinner replaces fellow Afghani off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. 

Ghazanfar played the U-19 World Cup earlier this year, picking up eight wickets, averaging 16.75. The off-spinner then went on to make his Afghanistan debut, where he went wicketless across two ODIs. 

The 16-year-old has modelled his action on Mujeeb and is also a mystery bowler who has the carrom ball in his arsenal. It will be interesting to see whether Kolkata will find a place for the off-spinner in their setup.