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NEW DELHI. — Zimbabwe pace bowler Blessing Muzarabani is set to join Indian Premier League debutants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the upcoming cricket season.
The 25-year-old pacer has played six Tests, 30 ODIs and 21 T20 International matches for his national team.
After losing England pacer Mark Wood due to an elbow injury, Lucknow Super Giants have been on a hunt to find his replacement for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. The franchise was reportedly after Taskin Ahmed but after the move fell through, Zimbabwe star Muzarabani emerged as LSG’s new prime target.
However, it is not yet clear whether Muzarabani will be joining the franchise as Wood’s replacement or merely as a net bowler.
The official Twitter handle of Indian Ambassador in Zimbabwe confirmed the news of the pace bowler Muzarabani leaving for India for the cash-rich league. It remains to be seen if Muzarabani is indeed a replacement, or he is joining as a net bowler.
On late Monday night, the Indian Embassy in Zimbabwe uploaded a picture of the Ambassador with Muzarabani and mentioned that the Zimbabwe national player is leaving for India to play for Lucknow Super Giants.
Muzurabani, who has picked 25 wickets from 21 T20 International fixtures at an economy rate of 8, can become the first Zimbabwe player to play in the IPL after a span of eight years.
“Ambassador met with Mr Blessing Muzarabani, the Zimbabwean bowler, as he prepared to leave for #IPL2022. Ambassador wished him & his team #LucknowSuperGiants the very best,” the tweet read.
It isn’t common for players from Zimbabwe to be playing in the Indian Premier League. In fact, if Muzarabani does come in to LSG as a replacement for Wood, it would be the first after eight years that a Zimbabwe player will feature in the IPL as a contracted cricketer.
It was Brendan Taylor who last featured in the IPL from Zimbabwe. He used to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad and was released ahead of IPL 2015 season.
Ray Price (Mumbai Indians) and Tatenda Taibu (Kolkata Knight Riders) are some of the other players from Zimbabwe who have featured in the IPL before.
It has to be noted that players require NoCs from their respective boards to feature in the IPL.
LSG earlier had approached Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed to replace Wood in their line-up.
But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) didn’t allow Taskin given that the team’s South Africa tour is currently in progress. He is part of the ongoing ODI series and will play in the Test series against the Proteas as well. Moreover, with the home series against India coming up, the BCB didn’t give him the NoC for the IPL 2022.
“Since we have two important series like the ongoing home tour of South Africa and the home series against Sri Lanka, we feel it won’t be right for him to take part in the IPL.
“We have spoken with Taskin and he has understood the whole situation. He informed the franchise that he is not playing the IPL and will be available for the South Africa tour and later will return back home,” BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said while speaking to media.
LSG open their season with the first match against fellow newcomers Gujarat Titans on March 28 at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
Earlier reports had suggested that LSG would sign Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed as Wood’s replacement but the Bangladesh Cricket Board refused to issue a No-Objection Certificate because of national commitments.
Lucknow Super Giants will be led by Indian opener KL Rahul who has the experience of leading Pubjab Kings for the last two seasons in the cash-rich league. — Timesnownews.com.
Online Reporter