Nitish Rana appointed interim captain of KKR for IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Nitish Rana as their interim captain for the first half of IPL 2023.

Rana will lead KKR while their regular captain Shreyas Iyer recovers from a back injury.

Rana was one of two candidates for the interim captaincy along with Sunil Narine.

Rana has led his state team Delhi in 12 T20s in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with eight wins and four defeats.

He was bought by KKR ahead of the 2018 season and has been retained by the franchise ever since.

Rana was KKR's second highest run-scorer last season, behind Shreyas, with 361 runs at a strike rate of 143.82.

With Rana taking over as captain, KKR will be under whole new leadership this season, with Chandrakant Pandit replacing Brendon McCullum as head coach and Bharat Arun appointed bowling coach.

KKR finished seventh in the league with six wins and eight losses last season.

Rana has big shoes to fill in the absence of Iyer, but with his experience as a captain and a solid performance on the field, KKR is hopeful that he will do a great job.