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IPL 2023 | Kolkata Knight Riders Rope In West Indies Star as Litton Das's Replacement

image-lh8nmie7Johnson Charles replaces Litton [Twitter]

In a surprising move, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise have named West Indies' Johnson Charles as a replacement for Bangladesh's Litton Das for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Das, who played just one match for KKR this season, returned home last week following a family emergency.

Charles, 34, has been in rich form for West Indies, scoring 454 runs in 12 T20Is this year at a staggering strike rate of 169, which included a 39-ball century against South Africa as well. Interestingly, KKR now has a total of three overseas openers in Charles, England's Jason Roy, and Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

The St Lucia-born was picked up for INR 50 lakh.​

Charles has represented West Indies in 48 One-Day Internationals and 41 T20Is, amassing 2,254 runs combined. A T20 franchise specialist, the wicket-keeper batter has played 224 T20s, accumulating over 5,607 runs with three tons and 32 fifties. 

KKR had earlier lost Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan as well, who pulled out of the competition, allowing Roy to be roped in as a replacement. 

KKR placed eighth in the points table with three wins and six losses to take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad this evening at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.