Morne Morkel ruled out of CLT20

South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel will not be available to Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming Champions League T20 because of a shoulder injury. It is understood that Morkel has hurt his rotator cuff and wicketkeeper batsman Manvinder Bisla will be his replacement in the 15-man squad.

Morkel is the third overseas player to become unavailable for KKR, the IPL champions, after Australian batsman Chris Lynn was ruled out by shoulder surgery and Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan had his NOCs to play for the franchise cancelled by the BCB because of disciplinary issues.

KKR were left with five overseas players: Jacques Kallis, Sunil Narine, Ryan ten Doeschate, Andre Russell and Pat Cummins.

Venky Mysore, the KKR chief executive, said Cricket South Africa had communicated to the BCCI that Morkel needed time to fix an ongoing shoulder problem that had worsened during the recent tri-series in Zimbabwe. The franchise was informed earlier this week.

"He [Morkel] has had an ongoing problem. CSA informed BCCI that the injury was aggravated and was causing challenges with his ability throw," Mysore said. "So he needed to be in the rehab for some time."

Morkel was bought by KKR for INR 28,000,000 at the 2014 player auction and took 12 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 30.58 and economy of 7.64.