Sri Lankan pacer Dushmantha Chameera has joined the Kolkata Knight Riders team. Kolkata have taken Chameera as a replacement for Englishman Gus Atkinson. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has not allowed Atkinson to play in the IPL to manage the workload.

Chameera has experience playing in IPL before. Earlier, Chameera played for Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Lucknow Super Giants. The 32-year-old Lankan pacer is adept at creating storms of pace. Chameera, who remained unsold in the auction, was picked up by Kolkata at a base price of INR 50 lakhs.

26-year-old English pacer Atkinson was supposed to play for the first time in the IPL. However, the ECB has removed him from the IPL to reduce the pressure of managing his workload before the T20 World Cup. Atkinson is currently touring India with the Test team after the Caribbean tour after the ODI World Cup. Kolkata Knight Riders bought him from the auction for INR 1 crore.

Apart from Chameera, Australia's Mitchell Starc is a foreign pacer in Kolkata's squad. Kolkata Knight Riders signed Starc for a record amount of INR 24.75 crore. Although the final schedule has not been announced, the upcoming season of IPL is expected to take off by the end of March. The game will continue until the end of May.