IPL 2022: Aaron Finch replaces Alex Hales at KKR – In what came as a surprise withdrawal, Alex Hales has pulled out of the IPL citing bio-bubble fatigue. Kolkata Knight Riders have named Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch as the new replacement. Follow IPL 2022 Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
“Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have signed Aaron Finch as a replacement for England batter Alex Hales for the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Hales has cited bubble fatigue as his reason for withdrawal from the tournament,” the BCCI said in a statement.
— Alex Hales (@AlexHales1) March 11, 2022
“We respect Alex Hales’ decision of choosing family and mental well-being over his participation in the upcoming season of the IPL. We will miss having him in the Galaxy of Knights this season, but we wish him all the best,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore said.
IPL 2022: Aaron Finch returns to IPL after one-year absence as replacement for Alex Hales at Kolkata Knight Riders
IPL 2022: Aaron Finch returns to IPL after one-year absence as replacement for Alex Hales at Kolkata Knight Riders
Aaron Finch, who led Australia to T20 World Cup in the UAE last year, has far played 88 T20Is and has scored 2686 runs with the help of 2 hundreds and 15 half-centuries.
“We are delighted to welcome Aaron Finch, the T20 World Cup-winning captain, to the Knight Riders family. He is excited about joining the rest of the KKR squad in Mumbai and we look forward to benefiting from his vast experience,” Venky Mysore said.
The Australia captain last played for RCB and has played 87 IPL matches, scoring over 2000 runs. He will join KKR at the price of INR 1.5 Crore. However, Finch won’t be in action in the IPL until April 12 as he will be leading Australia in the three-match ODI and one-off T20 against Pakistan. He will miss first five matches of the IPL 2022. Furthermore, his place in the KKR Playing XI will not be guaranteed as the veteran player has hit a rut.
IPL 2022: Aaron Finch returns to IPL after one-year absence as replacement for Alex Hales at Kolkata Knight Riders
🚨 Aaron Finch joins KKR as a replacement for Alex Hales.
Welcome to the #GalaxyOfKnights, @AaronFinch5! 💜#KKR #KKRHaiTaiyaar #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/3HnSyKogV2
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 11, 2022
IPL 2022: Aaron Finch returns to IPL after one-year absence as replacement for Alex Hales at Kolkata Knight Riders
Alex Hales is the second player from England to pull out from IPL citing bubble fatigue. Earlier, Jason Roy pulled out of the IPL and Rajasthan Royals replaced him with Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan. It should be noted that both English players were sold at the base price of Rs 1.5 Cr.
KKR – the two-time IPL Champions – will kickstart the TATA IPL 2022 proceedings on March 26 when they take on Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
KKR Full Squad IPL 2022: Retained: Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Auction picks: Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith, Ashok Sharma, Pratham Singh, Abhijeet Tomar, Sam Billings, Alex Hales (Pulled out), Ramesh Kumar, Mohammed Nabi, Aman Khan, Umesh Yadav, Aaron Finch.
IPL 2022: Aaron Finch returns to IPL after one-year absence as replacement for Alex Hales at Kolkata Knight Riders
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