Hyderabad: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday announced that Sri Lanka pacer Dushmantha Chameera as the replacement for England pacer Gus Atkinson for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Chameera, who played for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the previous edition of IPL, has received the ₹50 Lakhs deal for representing the two-time champion side. He didn't have a perfect last season, but he has recently helped the Dubai Capitals (DC) franchise to reach the summit clash in the International League T20 (ILT20), the United Arab Emirates-based franchise league.
On Monday, IPL released an official statement which stated, "Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Dushmantha Chameera as a replacement for England pacer Gus Atkinson for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024."
The right-arm pacer possesses the ability to bowl yorkers at will and swing the ball in both directions. He has also played for Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2018 and 2021 respectively.
"Chameera will join KKR at a reserve price of INR 50 Lakh. The Sri Lankan speedster, who is known for his pace, and can trouble the batters with his swing and seam movements, was a part of Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2018 and 2021 IPL seasons, respectively. He represented Lucknow Super Giants in the 2022 season, where he picked up nine wickets from 12 matches," the statement further added.
Atkinson was set to play in the cash-rich league for the first time and was picked for ₹1 crore by the two-time tournament-winning franchise at the 2024 auctions. However, the England Cricket Board is looking to manage Atkinson's workload as he has been on the road for quite some time.
The 26-year-old was part of the ODI World Cup squad held in India and appeared in three matches, before travelling with the team for white-ball tour to the West Indies. He is currently the part of the England's Test squad in India. However, the English speedster has not played any of the first three Tests with Ben Stokes and team management going for James Anderson and Mark Wood.
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