IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders suffer an injury crisis before the commencement of Indian Premier League’s new season, as Indian speedster Umran Malik has been ruled out of the IPL 2025 due to injury.
The right-arm pacer has been replaced by Chetan Sakariya, and the official comfirmation of the decision has been made by KKR on Sunday, March 16.
“Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) picked Chetan Sakariya as a replacement for Umran Malik for the upcoming edition of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Umran Malik is ruled out of the season due to an injury. Sakariya has represented India in an ODI and two T20Is and has played 19 IPL games, scalping 20 wickets from the same. Sakariya, a left-arm medium pacer, joins KKR for INR 75 Lakh,” read the released statement on IPL’s official website.
Watch the announcement video here:
HE. IS. BACK! 🔥💜 pic.twitter.com/fdfnhQvVJF
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 16, 2025
🚨𝗖𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗜𝗣𝗟 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
The left-arm fast bowler is all set to don Purple & Gold for another year 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/Zxcl0rlxat
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 16, 2025
Umran Malik came to limelight during IPL 2021, as his extra pace rattled batters. However, his inconsistency with line and length resulted in him going pretty expensive over the years. The SRH management did not show trust in the speedster and released him for the IPL 2025 season.
KKR cashed-in on the opportunity, as they bought Umran Malik for Rs. 75 lakh in the Player Auction, but an injury has now made it impossible for the player to take part in the 18th season of IPL.
Chetan Sakariya’s IPL Career
Chetan Sakariya made his IPL debut in 2021, playing for Rajasthan Royals against Punjab Kings. The season was a breakthrough for the left-arm pacer, as he grabbed 14 wickets in 14 matches.
However, injuries and lack of chances resulted in him fading away from limelight, as the 27-year-old featured only 5 times in the next 3 seasons, grabbing 6 wickets.
