South Africa batsman Rassie van der Dussen is unlikely to join Rajasthan Royals (RR) for this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) as he failed to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Cricket South Africa (CSA).

As per the reports in ESPNcricinfo, the right-hand batsman who was named as a replacement of all-rounder Ben Stokes after he was ruled out of the tournament due to a broken finger, has not been granted a NOC due to an unspecified injury.

Even though India is currently battling with the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases, the 32-year-old had obtained a visa to travel to the country.

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The South African who was unsold in this year’s IPL auction with a base price of INR 50 lakh scored 628 runs in 20 T20I matches and had regained his fitness after suffering a left quadriceps muscle strain ahead of the third ODI against Pakistan.

Apart from van der Dussen, the 20-year-old South African pacer Gerald Coetzee was named as a replacement for another England player Liam Livingston as he withdrew from the tournament citing bio-bubble fatigue.

Besides Ben Stokes and Liam Livingston, the Royals are also missing English pacer Jofra Archer owing to an injury well as Australian pacer Andrew Tye flew back due to personal reasons, leaving the franchise with just five overseas players.

RR recently registered a 54-run win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), thanks to Jos Buttler’s amazing maiden T20 century, and will be taking on three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday (5 May) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

(With PTI inputs)