Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders Thursday signed uncapped Australian pacer Matt Kelly to replace their injured South African import Anrich Nortje in the ongoing IPL.
The 25-year-old Nortje, the South African fast bowler, who made his ODI debut recently against Sri Lanka, was picked up by KKR in the auction at his base price of 20 Lakh. However, he was ruled out of the tournament right at the start when he sustained a shoulder injury.
The 24-year-old Kelly, a right-arm pace bowler, who was lauded with his brilliant death bowling for Perth Scorchers this season in the Big Bash League has played 16 First-Class matches, five List A games and 12 T20s so far and has not featured in the past editions of the IPL.
KKR’s assistant coach is fellow Western Australian Simon Katich, who was clearly impressed enough by Kelly’s performances in the BBL to convince head coach Jacques Kallis that he was worth signing for the rest of the season.
The right-armer has played seven matches in BBL 08, where he took 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.74. He has the ability to execute fast and accurate yorkers in the late overs clearly impressing the KKR coaching staff.
He also impressed World Cup winner and former national selector Mark Waugh, who this week suggested Kelly should be in the mix for Australia’s World Cup squad.