Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) English pacer Mark Wood will reportedly miss the final stages of the ongoing IPL 2023 season.
Wood will fly back home to attend the birth of his child.
Wood had already missed the last two matches for LSG due to illness and is now likely to fly back home in late May.
Wood, an English speedster, has been in terrific form in the current IPL season after scalping 11 wickets in from his four appearances including a 5/14 on his IPL debut against Delhi Capitals.
According to an ESPNCricinfo report, Wood and his wife Sarah are expecting their second child towards the end of May, and Wood will fly home at some point in the coming weeks to be present at the birth.
LSG play their next fixture against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday and will have back-to-back home matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 1 and 3.
Notably, the IPL qualifiers will be played on May 23 and 26 in Chennai with the final set to be played on May 28 in Ahmedabad.
On the other side, England is also slated to play a one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s on June 1, four days just after the IPL 2023 final.
England Test skipper Ben Stokes has previously indicated that he may leave the IPL 2023 early to prepare for the Ireland Test. But, despite the Ashes this summer the ECB does not intend to pull players out of the tournament against their will.
According to ESPNCricinfo, the ECB has assured the BCCI and franchises that England players would be available for the full season.