Published: Apr 18, 2016, 11:07 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 18, 2016, 11:12 PM (IST)
Two-times champion in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday suffered a big blow when their ace bowler John Hastings was ruled out of the tournament due to an ankle injury. Hastings was injured before the start of the IPL 9 game between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI), during a training session. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have requested for a replacement for the burly Australian cricketer, which will be announced only after getting clearance frpom the IPL technical committee. He has flown back home to Australia, and will be working on his fitness to get ready for Australia’s upcoming tour of the West Indies.
According to ESPNCricinfo, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have already begun the paperwork to get a replacement in place of Hastings. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) assistant coach Simon Katich said, “He bowled through a fair bit of pain. He had a fair bit of scans after that, and he has flown back to Australia. It’s a shame to see his campaign end prematurely.” ALSO READ: Kanpur may get only one IPL 2016 match, between Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders
Katich added, “He had fitted in really well into the team, and he had performed well in a couple of games. Yeah, unfortunately he’ll be doing a lot of rehab instead and working towards getting fit for the West Indies tour for Australia.”
Talking about the replacement for Hastings, the KKR assistant coach said, “We have looked into it. We have sent off the paperwork. Nothing has been confirmed regarding the player concerned. Hopefully that’ll happen in the next few days. We have sent out the paperwork to BCCI, we’ll just have to see what happens.”
“It’s someone that we had already looked at in the auction. Obviously, we did get John. He [Hastings] was right up there on the priority list when we went for the auctions. We didn’t know if it was going to come through or not so we had a few other names in mind. We’ll find out if it comes through,” Katich said when pushed about the possible replacement.
