IPL 2023: The highly-anticipated approaching season of the Indian Premier League is gradually nearing its beginning. IPL 2023 is formally scheduled to kick off this Friday (March 31) with a tournament opener between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings. The India-based T20 competition will be played in the March-May window with the exact 10 teams participating. Moreover, the all-important final will occur on May 28 in Ahmedabad.
What came as an extensive development from the Kolkata Knight Riders’ camp ahead of the season is that their captain, Shreyas Iyer, has been ruled out of the first half of the upcoming IPL season due to an injury. Iyer is currently struggling with a back injury and further remains doubtful for the latter half of IPL 2023 as well. Emerging Indian batter Nitish Rana will be leading Kolkata Knight Riders in Iyer’s absence, at least in the first half of the tournament.
I feel Varun Chakravarthy can be the Impact Player for KKR: Aakash Chopra
Meanwhile, former India batter Aakash Chopra has suggested Kolkata Knight Riders use Varun Chakravarthy as their ‘Impact Player’ in the approaching IPL season. Chopra believes that Chakravarthy will be the right choice for the new ‘impact player’ rule, provided there is enough assistance for the spin on the surface. He further added that KKR has their all bases covered while providing an overview of their bowling attack.
“They have options in bowling. You can use either Vaibhav Arora or Kulwant Khejrolia as the Impact Player. If the ball is turning, you can use your spinner as the Impact Player.” said Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel
“I feel Varun Chakravarthy can also be the Impact Player because you won’t need his batting. You have two spinners in the form of Varun and Sunil Narine and if you want, you can play Anukul Roy as well. So, this base is covered, you are absolutely fine,” Chopra further added
Varun Chakravarthy starred for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2021, playing a significant role in their season success, however, his performance witnessed a dip last season (IPL 2022). The mystery spinner managed to take just 9 wickets in 11 league matches. He was further dropped from the lineup by the franchise on multiple occasions.