KKR send Chopra, Bangar back home

Port Elizabeth:

Kolkata Knight Riders have asked Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar to return home, saying they don't fit into the team's scheme of things for the second edition of the Indian Premier League.

KKR CEO Joy Bhattacharya said the decision was taken after the team management's meeting with the two players who accepted the decision and would board a home-bound flight on Monday.

"They are two very good senior international players so (coach) John Buchanan and the team management thought that if they are not going to have the opportunity (to play) it is unfair to keep them around," Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by a cricket website.

Chopra played in Kolkata's first two matches, but got the opportunity to bat only once while Bangar played the match against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday but made just two and could not leave any impression.

"Nobody is ever happy about going back, but they took it in right frame of mind," Bhattacharya.

He, however, asserted that both the players would be back for the third edition of the IPL since they had a three-year contract with KKR.

The Kolkata outfit now have a 20-player squad, Bhattacharya said. "Right now we are down to 11 Indians and seven of them need to play so we don't think we will trim it," he added.