The Delhi Capitals (DC) have roped in Mumbai left-arm spinner Shams Mulani as IPL’s first short-term COVID-19 replacement for Akshar Patel and Karnataka batsman Aniruddha Joshi as the injured Shreyas Iyer's replacement for IPL 2021.
The Rishabh Pant-led franchise has replaced all-rounder Akshar Patel with Shams Mulani until the former recover from the coronavirus.
Patel tested positive for COVID-19 during his mandatory quarantine ahead of the IPL 14 and was subsequently taken to BCCI's designated medical facility after it was learnt that he showed mild symptoms.
Shams Mulani, who is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler, has had a decent T20 career till now, scalping 24 wickets in 25 matches at an excellent economy rate of 6.92. Apart from his bowling, the Mumbaikar can also contribute with the bat down the order.
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He will replace Akshar Patel under IPL’s player regulations 6.1 (c) which states that franchisees are allowed to sign a short-term replacement player until the original squad member is permitted to re-enter the team’s bio-secure environment.
“Delhi Capitals have brought in Shams Mulani as a short-term COVID-19 replacement for Axar Patel for their IPL-2021 campaign. Akshar had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus during his mandatory quarantine ahead of the season and was subsequently taken to BCCI’s medical facility for isolation and treatment.
“Hence, Mulani will only be a part of the Delhi Capitals side until Akshar recovers and is allowed to join the team,” Delhi Capitals stated in the official release.
The Delhi-based franchise also named Aniruddha Joshi, who is a middle-order batsman and an off-spinner, as a replacement for Shreyas Iyer who was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining a shoulder injury during the ODI series between India and England.
Joshi has earlier been a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) but is yet to make his IPL debut. The right-handed batsman has featured in 22 T20 matches, scoring 420 runs at an average of 32.30.
(PTI inputs)
