Chetan Sakariya has been given the opportunity to join Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for injured Umran Malik.
The pace sensation, Umran Malik, will be absent from this year’s IPL due to injury, and Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions, will miss his fiery pace. Left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya has been brought in as his replacement.
In the last four IPL seasons, Umran played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, with his best performance coming in 2022. During that season, the fast bowler from Jammu & Kashmir caught the cricket world’s attention by regularly bowling at 150 km/h. He won the award for the fastest bowler in every match of the season, taking 22 wickets and earning the title of Emerging Player of the Year.
After that stellar performance, Umran made his debut for India. However, his form declined in the following seasons. In 2023, he played eight matches but could only manage five wickets. In the 2024 season, he played only one match without taking any wickets.
The 25-year-old, who has played 10 ODIs and 8 T20Is for India, was released by Hyderabad ahead of the 2025 IPL mega-auction. Kolkata acquired him for ₹75 lakh at the auction, and in an interview with Times of India, he expressed his excitement about playing for Kolkata.
However, that hope was dashed due to his injury. The exact nature of the injury is still unknown. After playing for Hyderabad in March 2024, he hasn’t played any competitive cricket. He was also scheduled to play in India’s domestic first-class competition, the Duleep Trophy, in September, but had to withdraw due to a dengue fever infection.
On the other hand, Chetan Sakariya, aged 27, has also been sidelined due to injury for an extended period. His last competitive match was in February 2024 during the Ranji Trophy. Kolkata had signed him before last year’s IPL, but he didn’t play in any matches. Later, the franchise released him.
Sakariya, who has played one ODI and two T20Is for India, remained unsold in this year’s IPL auction but was picked up by Kolkata for ₹75 lakh, just six days before the season started due to Umran’s injury.
So far, Sakariya has played 19 IPL matches in three seasons, taking 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8.43 runs per over. He made his debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2021 and was bought by Delhi Capitals in the following season for ₹4.2 crore. He played for them in two consecutive seasons.
Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their title defense next Saturday at Eden Gardens against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
