Zimbabwe pacer Muzarabani is all set to join Indian Premier League (IPL) debutants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the upcoming season which will get underway on March 26 in Mumbai.
Muzarabani, 25, has featured in six Tests, 30 ODIs and 21 T20 International matches for his national team. Although there has been no official statement but it has been unerstood that Muzarabani will be the replacement for England pacer Mark Wood, who sustained an injury in the first Test between West Indies and England in Antigua recently.
On late Monday night, the Indian embassy in Zimbabwe uploaded a picture of the ambassador with Muzarabani and said that the Zimbabwe pacer is leaving for India to play in the upcoming edition of the lucrative league.
“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 Indian embassy tweeted.
Notbaly, Muzarabani will now become first Zimbabwe player to feature in IPL after eight years as former Zimbabwe player Brendan Taylor was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s squad in IPL 2014. Taylor however, didn’t played even a single match for SRH and was later released before IPL 2015.
Apart from Taylor, Ray Price and Tatenda Taibu were part of IPL for Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively.
Significantly, several reports had suggested that Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed would be signed as Wood’s replacement however, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to issue a No-Objection Certificate (NoC) due to national commitments.
Debutants LSG will be led by India opener KL Rahul, who had earlier parted ways with Pubjab Kings.
LSG will play its first match against fellow debutant Gujarat Titans on March 28 at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
Notably, the upcoming IPL season will begin on March 26 and will be played in a bio-secure environment at a single hub to avoid air travel, considered as a major threat for the spread of COVID-19 infection, thereby affecting the players and tournament.
While 55 matches are scheduled to be held in Mumbai, the remaining 15 games will be staged in Pune while the playoffs’ venues haven’t been decided yet. Is most likley that the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad will stage the playoffs however, no official announcement has been made yet.
In the upcoming season, the 10 teams have been divided into two groups. While Group A comprises of Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants, Group B includes Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans.
From this year onwards, the lucrative league will be a ten-team affair following the addition of the two new teams – Ahmedabad and Lucknow and will have a total of 74 games.