Ali Khan recently became the first cricketer from the United States of America (USA) to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The right-arm seamer was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Ali, however, didn’t get chance in any of the eight matches that KKR have played so far. He was actually recovering from a side strain which he sustained during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020. And the Knight Riders’ CEO Venky Mysore had said that the franchise is optimistic about Khan’s recovery.
“While we are disappointed that he injured himself, KKR always does everything to take care of its players and therefore have asked him to stay on and are helping him with his recovery and rehab. Hopefully, he will recover fast,” Venky had said.
Now, as per the latest reports, Ali has been ruled out from the remainder of IPL 2020. He was roped in by KKR after England’s Harry Gurney pulled out from the competition to undergo shoulder surgery.
According to ESPNcricinfo, New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert has been called upon as Ali’s replacement.
Seifert has played three ODIs and 24 T20Is for New Zealand, in which he has scored 33 and 457 runs. In T20s, the wicket-keeper batsman has accumulated 1775 runs in 95 matches with one century and eight fifties.
Interestingly, Seifert was Ali’s colleague from the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) team, which won the CPL 2020 under the leadership of Kieron Pollard. Seifert didn’t have too good a time in CPL 2020 as he scored just 133 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 109.91.
