The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was marred with players pulling out due to injury and bubble fatigue, before the tournament got postponed in May due to COVID-19 cases in the bio-bubble of multiple franchises.
Ahead of the second phase of IPL 2021, due to begin on September 19 in UAE, many cricketers have also withdrawn their names and the franchises have announced their replacements.
On Saturday (September 18), IPL issued a statement, confirming the final list of replacements. Except for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), all the teams have been hit by players opting out of the UAE-leg of IPL 14.
Defending Champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have named Gujarat’s left-arm medium pacer Roosh Kalaria to their squad in place of Mohsin Khan. Kalaria has featured in 54 First-Class matches, 46 List A games and 31 T20s so far, claiming a total of 271 scalps.
Delhi Capitals (DC) have roped in Ben Dwarshuis to replace England all-rounder Chris Woakes. Left-arm pacer Dwarshuis, from Australia has thus far played 82 T20s and has 100 wickets to his name. The franchise has also named left-arm medium pacer Kulwant Khejroliya as replacement for M Siddharth.
Punjab Kings (PBKS), who had already named Adil Rashid and Nathan Ellis as replacement players for Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith respectively, have added one more player to the list. With Dawid Malan unavailable, South Africa’s Aiden Markram will replace him in the squad.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) have added the West Indian duo of Oshane Thomas and Evin Lewis to the squad. They will replace Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, respectively. Earlier, the inaugural IPL champions had named Tabraiz Shamsi and Glenn Phillips in the squad.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have picked Bengal medium-pacer Akash Deep to replace injured Washington Sundar. RCB had earlier made four replacements to their squad, bringing in Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, George Garton and Tim David for Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson and Finn Allen respectively.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have signed Sherfane Rutherford as a replacement for England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow. The West Indian had turned up for Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in the past.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the two-time IPL Champions, have announced New Zealand pacer Tim Southee as Pat Cummins’ replacement for the remainder of the IPL 2021. The Australian speedster, who played in the first half, made himself unavailable citing personal reasons.
(With iplt20.com inputs)
