KKR lost their first match against PBKS [Twitter]
Ahead of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) maiden home game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 tonight, head coach Chandrakant Pandit has backed his players to do well in the competition despite missing key stars like Shreyas Iyer and Shakib Al Hasan. Pandit, a first-time IPL coach, and new captain Nitish Rana lost their first match of the season against Punjab Kings.
KKR has a well-mix of youth and experience in the squad this season consisting of Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Mandeep Singh, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, and Vaibhav Arora to name a few.
As quoted by India Today, Pandit also opened up on their new England recruit, Jason Roy, who the management might play as an impact player.
Here's what Pandit said
"I would not say that experience is lacking. Every individual has created an impact at the domestic and international level. They are all reputed cricketers. I believe each and every player is capable of playing well. We are not depending on someone. Whatever squad we have, each one of them is good enough to give a good impact.
We will be missing two players. Roy is a top-order batter and he can be used as an impact player,"
Speaking on Kolkata's loss against the Kings, Pandit stated that he wants to focus on the pluses, and not be too judgmental over an unfortunate loss.
The Rana-led club will go up against an in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore at the iconic Eden Gardens today evening in a mouth-watering contest.
 "Vishal Mehra")
