Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum and Aussie paceman James Pattinson will both miss KKR’s IPL opener on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders will be without two key players as they look to defend their title when the sixth edition of the IPL starts on Wednesday.
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum and Australian fast bowler James Pattinson will both be absent from their side’s season opener with Delhi Daredevils.
Neither player has yet to arrive in India and join up with their squad as McCullum is struggling with a hamstring problem and Pattinson is still in his rest period after Australia’s recent tour of India.
Both players are expected to be ready to play in KKR’s second match against Rajasthan Royals on April 8.
The absence of McCullum will probably be the biggest worry for the Knight Riders as the Black Caps captain has been in startling form with the bat this year.
Although the 31-year-old scored a fairly modest 289 runs in 12 matches at the 2012 IPL, the wicketkeeper batsman was one of the five best batsmen at the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and greatly impressed during his side’s recent visit of England.
Against the English McCullum finished as the highest run-maker in the one-day series, the second best in the Twenty20s and scored three important half-centuries in the drawn Test series.
Kolkata will want the Kiwi back as soon as possible, especially as his stint at the IPL in 2013 will be a shorter one because the New Zealand skipper has to depart in the first week of May to lead his side on their tour of England.
It is likely that Three Lions batsman Eoin Morgan will fill in for McCullum until the New Zealander returns to the franchise.
Pattinson meanwhile is expected to join up with the squad in Kolkata on April 5.
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