Ali Khan: Everything You Need To Know About Kolkata Knight Riders' New Recruit

Ali Khan introduced himself to the history books by becoming the first USA cricketer to be part of Indian Premier League (IPL). Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped fast bowler Ali Khan as a replacement for English seamer Harry Gurney, owing to a shoulder injury. The shoulder injury also ruled him out of the Vitality Blast 2020 and competitive action for a while.

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Ali Khan was a member of Trinbago Knight Riders that won the 2020 edition of Caribbean Premier League this week. The 29-year old picked up eight wickets in as many matches in the season and has also maintained his association with giants like Sharukh Khan and Venky Mysore. He is on the flight to Dubai along with the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to join his teammates in the Kolkata Knight Riders.

As far as his international career is concerned, Ali has featured in only one ODIs; however, he has played 36 T20s, taking 38 wickets at 27.18. Khan has featured for Khulna Tigers, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Karachi Kings, Kabul Zwanan, and many more. Ali might be short of experience in terms of matches; however, he possesses the knowledge of different conditions.

More facts about Ali Khan:

The 29-year old seamer was born in Pakistan before moving to the USA at the age of 18. It was his love and passion for the game that saw him make to the USA national cricket team. A T20 globetrotter, Ali Khan has plied his trade in Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Global T20 Canada, Abu Dhabi T10 League, Bangladesh Premier League, and many others.

Khan was the only USA player registered for the IPL 2020 auction. His name did not come up during the auction while he did give his name for the 2019 auction. Since 2018, the Pakistan-born cricketer has remained with Trinbago Knight Riders, taking 16 scalps in 2018, 10 in 2019 and eight this year.

He might be the USA first player signed by an IPL franchise; however, there were two others in the past, who featured for the USA after their IPL stint. Punjab’s Sunny Sohal, who donned the jersey of Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Deccan Chargers in IPL before migrating to the USA. Proteas’ seamer Rusty Theron played for Deccan and Bangalore now plays for the USA.

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