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The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) snapped up Mujeeb Ur Rahman for his ₹2 crore base price at the IPL 2024 auction a couple of weeks ago. However, his participation in the upcoming IPL season is under threat, following a sanction by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).
The ACB recently put out a statement stating that Mujeeb, along with Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi, will not be given No-Objection Certificates (NOC) to play in T20 leagues around the world for the next two years. This was a result of the trio wanting to be left off the central contract list for 2024, perhaps to focus on franchise tournaments.
Mujeeb had performed well in the Melbourne Renegades' solitary win this season by picking up three wickets for just 20 runs against the Adelaide Strikers on December 29. However, he has now been removed from the squad after the change in his NOC.
It is quite likely that the three Afghan players will not feature in IPL 2024 for the same reason unless their respective IPL franchises or the BCCI come to an agreement with the ACB.
On that note, let's look at three players KKR can sign if Mujeeb Ur Rahman is withdrawn from IPL 2024, including Adil Rashid.
#1 Adil Rashid
Due to KKR's four overseas slots being pretty certain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman was seen as a backup to Sunil Narine, given that both are mystery spinners. While Adil Rashid is a leg spinner, he will be a quality addition to the squad.
As there are reports that Gautam Gambhir and co. are going to prepare spin-friendly pitches at the Eden Gardens, having a world-class leg spinner will be beneficial to KKR. They already have a few quality bowlers who turn the ball into the right-hander and away from the left-hander.
Narine is a mystery spinner who usually bowls off-spin, while Varun Chakravarthy bowls leg-break googlies, which again turns into the right-hander. Nitish Rana, who is a batting all-rounder, is also generally better with his off-break deliveries. Hence, Adil Rashid will fit the squad perfectly.
#2 Tabraiz Shamsi
One KKR spinner who hasn't been mentioned yet is Suyash Sharma, who was decent in his debut IPL campaign. If he is still going to play a good chunk of matches in the upcoming season, then KKR need not buy a right-arm leg spinner.
Instead, they can opt for a left-arm chinaman bowler like Tabraiz Shamsi. Like Adil Rashid, Shamsi is also highly rated in international limited-overs cricket. Both of them haven't had fruitful IPL stints, but either of them will be a solid addition to KKR's squad.
#3 Phil Salt
If KKR are happy with their spin contingent and don't want to add another spinner like Adil Rashid to the mix, they could look at an overseas wicketkeeper. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the only quality wicketkeeper batter in the squad.
If he gets injured or is unavailable, KKR will have to remove an Indian player to bring in both Jason Roy and KS Bharat. This will meddle with the team's balance. Hence, Adil Rashid's England teammate Phil Salt makes total sense, as he is a man in form and had a decent IPL campaign in 2023.
Gurbaz and Salt could battle for one of the four overseas slots. They already have Narine, Chakravarthy, Suyash, and Rana, who can give around 12–14 overs on spin-conducive pitches. In case Narine gets injured, they could then look for a replacement overseas spinner.
