Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said that Mark Wood’s potential unavailability for the entire season might have forced the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to acquire Shamar Joseph for IPL 2024 as well. Wood, who was originally bought for a whopping price of ₹7.50 crore, was one of the players retained by LSG ahead of the IPL 2024 auction as well. However, they recently replaced him with Joseph, who bought by ₹3.00 crore.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “The Lucknow Super Giants have signed Shamar Joseph. The Lucknow franchise needs to move forward as they reached the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. Eventually, you want to finish on the podium and maybe with the trophy in hand. So for that, they have now kept Joseph. It was probably expected that Mark Wood won’t be available for the entire season. However, before that itself, they decided – Mark Wood bye-bye, Shamar Joseph hi-hi. So Joseph has become a part of this team.”
However, Joseph did well for the West Indies in their recent Brisbane Test win against Australia as well. The right-arm pacer registered figures of 7/68 in the second innings with an injured foot as the Windies finished an eight-run win to draw the two-match series as well. Aakash Chopra also applauded Shamar Joseph for attaining lofty heights from a humble beginning as well.
“It is the story of a woodcutter. His entire village works as carpenters. So his story started from there and where it’s reached – it’s beautiful. So Shamar Joseph will be playing in the Indian Premier League. He has got a very good contract, it’s exciting. By the way, their Durban Super Giants also played very well throughout the SA20. They were close to the top of the table but lost the final. They just did not turn up in the final. However, their journey till the final was very good. SunRisers Eastern Cape, on the other side, two trophies in two years. They played extremely well. They have started creating an early dominance. Durban Super Giants were extremely ordinary last year but have played very well this year,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
