Overseas quicks Billy Stanlake and Reece Topley have rejected the offer to play for Chennai Super Kings in the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, beginning April 9.
Three-time IPL champions CSK are having to search for a replacement in the overseas pace category, with Australian Josh Hazlewood pulling out of the upcoming season at the last minute.
According to reports, CSK had approached Hazlewood’s fellow countrymen Stanlake and England’s Topley to fill the void. However, it is understood that both of them have turned down the offer due to a threat to health safety amid rising coronavirus positive cases in India.
Many of them have contracts with English county teams and the permissions aren’t forthcoming due to the rising number of Covid cases. We may have to go for a wildcard and may get one soon enough. But the problems do persist,
a source close to the development was quoted as saying to The Times of India.
What would’ve added to the hesitation of accepting the offer for both Stanlake and Topley is the news of Axar Patel, Nitish Rana and Devdutt Padikkal – players for Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, respectively – testing COVID-19 positive in recent days. Besides the three cricketers, ten ground staff members of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai have tested positive.
Stanlake, the 26-year-old tall paceman from Australia, was previously with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He has played six matches in his IPL career, with seven wickets and an economy rate of 8.33. Stanlake has also featured in 7 ODIs and 19 T20Is for his country. The fast-bowler has taken 81 wickets in his overall T20 career while conceding 8.01 runs per over.
Tople has played in 13 ODIs and 6 T20Is in his injury-affected international career for England so far. The left-arm pacer, too, has a decent overall T20 record to his name, having taken 116 wickets from 85 matches while carrying an economy rate of 8.17. He, however, went unsold at the IPL auction in Chennai in February.
Hazlewood decided to opt-out of IPL 2021 due to concerns around bio-bubble fatigue after spending excessive time in a restrictive environment in recent months because of international commitments with Australia. Wary of Australia’s busy calendar this year, Hazlewood chose to skip the IPL to keep himself physically and mentally fit.
It’s been a long 10 months in bubbles and quarantine at different times, so I decided to have a rest from cricket and spend some time at home and in Australia in the next two months,
Hazlewood told cricket.com.au.
We’ve got a big winter ahead too. The West Indies is going to be a long tour, with Bangladesh (T20 tour) potentially thrown on the end of that.
Then potentially the T20 World Cup leading into the Ashes, so it’s a big 12 months, as it always is with Australia, and I want to give myself the best chance to be mentally and physically ready for that. That’s the decision I’ve made, and it sits pretty well with me,
he added.
While struggling to replace Hazlewood, CSK have found some relief in the form of their premier all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, as he seems ready to play the IPL 2021 after a lengthy injury layoff. Jadeja had surgery on his thumb after being hit while facing Australia’s Mitchell Starc in the New Year’s Test in Sydney earlier this year. He subsequently missed the following Test in Brisbane as well as the whole all-format home series against England.
He batted and bowled in the nets and looked pretty good at that. He will definitely be a part of the playing XI,
the source in the TOI report said.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be beginning their IPL 2021 campaign on April 10 in Mumbai against last year’s runners-up Delhi Capitals (DC).
