IPL 2021 UAE phase: Evin Lewis and Oshane Thomas find spots in the RR squad as replacements for Buttler and Stokes. Meanwhile, Liam Livingstone under cloud with a shoulder injury during the county championship.
IPL 2021 UAE phase: Evin Lewis repacement for Ben Stokes
Injury-hit Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday announced the final set of their replacement players. West Indian duo of Evin Lewis and Oshane Thomas will be joining the Royals squad as replacements of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes for the remainder of IPL 2021 to be held in the UAE from September 19.
Left-handed opening batter from Trinidad and Tobago, Evin Lewis, will be a replacement for Jos Buttler. 29-year-old Lewis had made his debut for West Indies during their 2016 World T20 campaign in India, and has 1318 runs to his name in 45 T20Is, at a strike rate of 158. The flamboyant batter has also scored 1847 runs for West Indies in 57 ODIs. His blistering performances for the national side also led him to be picked up by the Mumbai Indians in 2018, for whom he scored 430 runs in 16 matches across the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
However, Evin Lewis went unsold in IPL 2021 Auctions. He last appeared for Mumbai Indians in the 2019 season where he played three matches and scored 48 runs. In IPL 2018, Evin Lewis managed a decent average of 29.38 in 13 matches, scoring 382 runs including two half-centuries.
IPL 2021 UAE phase: Oshane Thomas replaces Jofra Archer.
Jamaican right-arm pace bowler, Oshane Thomas who is currently playing for the Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League will be joining as a replacement for Ben Stokes in the Royals’ set-up.
24-year-old Oshane Thomas had made his international debut in 2018, having faced India in a bilateral ODI and T20I series.
Since then, Thomas, a recipient of West Indies’ Emerging Player of the Year Award in 2019, has picked up 27 wickets in 20 ODIs, and 19 wickets in 17 T20Is. In the IPL, the fiery bowler has represented the Royals in 2019, picking up five wickets in four matches, and was with the franchise during the 2020 season in the UAE as well.
Liam Livingstone under doubt for RR.
With RR not having luck on their side with some injuries and setbacks will be facing another blow from Liam Livingstone. During the Lancashire’s County Championship fixture against Warwickshire on August 30, Livingstone injured his shoulder while fielding near the boundary rope.
Taking to their official Twitter, Lancashire informed about Livingstone’s mishap. “More Red Rose injury woe as Liam Livingstone appears to have damaged a shoulder diving to stop a boundary. He’s gone off the field and is replaced by Richard Gleeson,” read their tweet from August 30.
Further, the team will also miss the services of Australia pacer Andrew Tye, as a result of which they have roped in World No.1 T20I spinner Tabraiz Shamsi for the UAE leg, while New Zealand batter Glenn Philips has been named as Buttler’s replacement.
Bad luck for RR. Will they survive the injury scare?
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