Colin de Grandhomme signed up by Kolkata Knight Riders for Indian Premier League

Colin de Grandhomme has been roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for West Indies Twenty20 superstar Andre Russell for the 2017 Indian Premier League

New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme will replace Andre Russell in the Kolkata Knight Riders squad for this year’s Indian Premier League. (Full IPL coverage)

Colin de Grandhomme (right) of New Zealand celebrates the wicket of Dean Elgar of South Africa during day four of the third Test between New Zealand and South Africa at Seddon Park in Hamilton on March 28, 2017. Grandhomme has been roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders for Indian Premier League (AFP)

De Grandhomme, who was born in Harare but made his debut for New Zealand in a Twenty20 International against Zimbabwe in Auckland in 2012. Since then, he has played eight Twenty20 internationals, scoring 75 runs with a highest of 41 not out. He has taken three wickets in four innings with a best of 2 for 22.

De Grandhomme has also featured in six Tests and nine One-Day Internationals (ODIs). On his Test debut against Pakistan in 2016, the all-rounder picked up 6/41, the best figures by a New Zealand bowler on debut as he won the Man of the Match by helping his team to an eight-wicket win in Christchurch.

The Kiwi replaces Kolkata Knight Riders twenty20 superstar Andre Russell. The West Indian has been handed a one-year ban for violating anti-doping whereabouts regulations.

“There are two ways to look at such situations in life. Either we can see Russell’s absence as a challenge or look at it as an opportunity in bold letters. I as an individual, and KKR as a group, are looking it as an opportunity,” KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir said in a recent interview.

Kolkata Knight Riders commence their IPL 2017 campaign on Friday 7th April, 2017 at the SCA Stadium, Rajkot where they will face the Gujarat Lions at 8pm.