England fast bowler Mark Wood will no longer be able to take part in the IPL’s 15th edition that is going to kick-start on 26th March. Wood has been ruled out due to an elbow injury that he sustained during the first Test match of the ongoing England vs Australia Test series in the Caribbean.
This news comes as a huge blow to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who won the bidding war against other franchises last month and recruited Woods for a mammoth Rs 7.5 crore. Considering that Woods is one of the fastest bowlers around and his commendable performance in T20Is, his absence is sure to throw LSG’s bowling plans into disorder.
Wood’s injured his right elbow on the third day of the first Test against West Indies in Antigua, after bowling just five overs. On the fifth day he tried taking a ‘fitness test’ and bowled a few balls but had to discontinue after he felt “acute pain”. His exit from the field cast a spell of doubt on his IPL participation. The injury will reportedly keep him out of action for a long time. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sent the medical updates to LSG officials thus informing them about Wood’s unavailability from the IPL 2022.
Meanwhile LSG, led by KL Rahul are to play their first match of the season against another new addition Gujarat Titans on March 28th at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium. The team is yet to finalise on a replacement for Wood and the hunt for another commanding pace bowler is underway. The other international fast bowlers in LSG’s list include West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Sri Lanka pacer Dushmantha Chameera but Holder and Stoinis will not be able to take part right from the start of the IPL as they are playing Test series against England and Pakistan, respectively.
