Who is Johnson Charles? The Newest Recruit of Kolkata Knight Riders

image-lh8vtfgvCharles was roped in by KKR [Twitter]

In a desperate move to salvage their IPL season, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have roped in West Indies' swashbuckling batter, Johnson Charles in their squad. He comes in as a replacement player for wicket-keeper batter, Litton Das.

Litton left the IPL season midway, citing medical emergency in his immediate family. it is understood that the keeper-batter won't take any further part in the coveted tournament and KKR decided to draft in the West Indies opener as his replacement.

Litton was bought for his base price of INR 50 lakh, but played only a solitary game for the KKR side, before flying back to Bangladesh.


Who is Johnson Charles?

Having made his international debut in 2011, Charles is a power-packed batter who resembles former Windies all-rounder, Dwayne Smith, as both the batters love to use their muscles to hit the ball long.

Recently, in a T20I game against South Africa, Charles showed his brute power by slamming a 39-ball century and the world took notice of his T20 prowess.

Charles has represented West Indies in the 2012 and 2016 edition of the T20 World Cup, and the power-hitter is known for his blistering knock against India in the semi-finals of the 2016 T20 World Cup. He scored a 36-ball 52 that eventually propelled West Indies to reach the finals.

Charles has played 224 T20 matches, with a strike-rate of 130. Moreover, the West Indies batter has the experience of playing T20 cricket across different franchise leagues as well.