After the news of Kagiso Rabada sustaining a back injury, Delhi Daredevils (DD) were in deep trouble but now they have found an apt replacement for him as they have roped in the English pacer Liam Plunkett to replace Rabada. Plunkett has played 13 Tests, 65 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 15 T20 Internationals for England so far. This will be the first signing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Plunkett as he has been picked from the Registered Available Player Pool (RAPP) list. Delhi Daredevils will play their opening match against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Mohali on April 8.
DD’s bowling spearhead, Rabada was ruled out of the tournament just a couple of days back as he felt tightness and discomfort during the Johannesburg Test against Australia. After the subsequent scans, the bowler came to know that he had a lower back stress reaction injury, which will sideline him for a period of up to three months.
Also read: Kagiso Rabada Will Not Be Playing For Delhi Daredevils
Commenting on Rabada’s injury, Proteas team manager, Mohammed Moosajee was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au: “Kagiso has been diagnosed with a lower back stress reaction which will rule him out of cricket action for up to three months. He will need a month’s break from all physical activity before commencing with a rehabilitation programme to get him ready for the series against Sri Lanka in July.”
Kagiso was Delhi’s lead overseas fast bowler along with the Blackcaps pacer Trent Boult. He was retained by the Delhi based franchise using the RTM card for a whopping 4.2 crores. Delhi’s other fast bowling options include Mohammed Shami, Chris Morris, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan.
Also read: Delhi Daredevils Worked Well To Improve Their Squad
Delhi Daredevils IPL 2018 squad:
Gautam Gambhir (c), Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammad Shami, Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Daniel Christian, Jason Roy, Naman Ojha, Prithvi Shaw, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Avesh Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sayan Ghosh
