Ali Khan was initially roped in as a replacement for Harry Gurney.
Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) recruit from the USA, pacer Ali Khan has been ruled out of the tournament citing a side strain. He was initially brought in to replace England pacer Harry Gurney who was ruled out even before the tournament began in the UAE.
Khan had been undergoing treatment for a couple of weeks as the KKR management still had hopes of him recovering in time. However, now that he has been completely ruled out, they have decided to incorporate New Zealand's Tim Seifert in his place.
IPL 2020: KKR's Ali Khan ruled out of the tournament due to injury
Northern Districts, Seifert's team for the Plunket Shield back in New Zealand, had already confirmed that the wicketkeeper-batsman will be going to play the IPL but KKR was yet to announce the same.
He's got a ???? off 40 balls in T20 cricket!
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 20, 2020
That speaks for itself!
Here's welcoming explosive Kiwi, Tim Seifert.#KKRHaiTaiyaar #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/nFVjmgJNsP
KKR's decision to bring in Seifert might have been based on the fact that he is an exciting cricketer in the T20 format having already racked up a ton in just 40 deliveries in domestic cricket.
The Knight Riders' management, who also looks after the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) team Trinbago Knight Riders have already seen his potential and would like him to emulate the same in IPL.
In the recently concluded CPL 2020, Seifert scored 133 runs in 9 innings at an average of 22.16 and a Strike Rate of 109.91. The 25-year-old cricketer will be a huge boost to the KKR side with Andre Russell not being able to perform with the bat and is currently down with injuries.