IPL 2022: Aaron Finch becomes first player to achieve THIS unique feat as KKR sign him as Alex Hales` replacement

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday (March 11) signed Aaron Finch as a replacement for England batter Alex Hales for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. According to an official IPL statement, Hales has cited bubble fatigue as his reason for withdrawal from the tournament.

Finch - Australia's ICC T20 World Cup-winning captain, has thus far played 88 T20Is and has scored 2686 runs with the help of two hundreds and 15 half-centuries. Finch, who has played 87 IPL games and has over 2000 IPL runs, will join KKR at the price of Rs 1.5 crore.

Notably, Finch is set to make a record in IPL history by representing his ninth franchise. The Aussie batter, who went unsold in IPL 2022 auction, has played for Rajasthan Royals (2010), Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals, 2011-12), Pune Warriors India (2013), Sunrisers Hyderabad (2014), Mumbai Indians (2015), Gujarat Lions (2016-17), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings, 2018) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (2020) in the past.

Interestingly, out of the previous 14 IPL seasons, Finch has not been part of just four seasons in 2008, 2009, 2019 and 2021.

Meanwhile, Hales becomes the second English player to opt out of the league due to challenges of bubble life after Jason Roy earlier this month parted ways with Gujarat Titans, one of the two new teams this edition.

"I am sad to announce that I have made the extremely difficult decision to withdraw from the forthcoming IPL. Having spent the last four months away from home in restrictive bio bubble's and having tested positive for COVID myself in Australia, I don't feel as though I can commit myself to another extended period within a secure environment," said Hales in a statement on Twitter.

"It wouldn't be fair on the team or myself if I wasn't able to perform to the level expected of me as a result of ongoing bubble fatigue. I am truly gutted to have to turn down one of the best opportunities of my career due to the toll that the last two years of bubble life has taken on my mental well-being. I'll now take some time to rest and recharge ahead of the summer. I want to thank KKR for believing in we during the auction and for their ongoing support in recent weeks. I wish Baz, Shreyas and the team the best of luck for the tournament and hope to see the Knight Riders fans at some point in the future," he stated further.

KKR - the two-time IPL Champions - will kickstart the IPL 2022 proceedings on March 26 when they take on Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

KKR Squad for IPL 2022: Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith, Ashok Sharma, Pratham Singh, Abhijeet Tomar, Sam Billings, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammed Nabi, Aman Khan, Umesh Yadav.