With less than a month to go for the second leg of the 14th edition of the IPL 2021. All the franchises have started to not just take notice of players who will be unavailable but also announce able replacements. Considering how teams have started to reunite to undergo respective quarantine periods before moving to the UAE, it is also high time that team managements are made aware of players’ availability or the lack of it.
For now, a total of five replacements players have joined three teams for the second phase of IPL 2021. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings are the three franchises who have signed replacements players. It is worth mentioning that all the five players are overseas players.. As their availability is a concern due to various reasons. While some players will have to miss the second leg of IPL 2021 due to national responsibilities. Although, others will have to do the same due to personal or travel-reasons amidst a global pandemic.
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IPL 2021 replacement players
Royal Challengers Bangalore :
Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore have the most active among all franchises as far as naming international replacements. While New Zealand-pair of Finn Allen and Scott Kuggeleijn have been named for the tours of Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Image : crictracker.com
Australian trio of Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa and Daniel Sams (unavailable) will also miss the remainder of IPL 2021. As a result, RCB have included as many as three uncapped players in the cash-rich league. However, they named Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera and Tim David for the UAE leg. The Sri Lankan duo of Hasaranga and Chameera have done well at the highest level in the recent times. Moreover, especially in the series against India. David, on the other hand, is a hard-hitting batsman from Singapore. He has played 14 T20Is and has started to make a name for himself in T20 leagues around the world.
Rajasthan Royals :
Rajasthan Royals will miss a significant name in England white-ball vice-captain Jos Buttler in the UAE next month. Having scored a century and 10 half-centuries across three seasons for Royals, Buttler had become a reliable batsman for RR with his ability to bat both in the top and middle-order. Readers must note that Buttler will miss the second phase of IPL 2021 as he and his wife are expecting their second child around the same time. New Zealand wicket-keeper batsman Glenn Phillips has named as Buttler’s like-for-like replacement at Rajasthan. The 25 year old player has played a Test and 25 T20Is and is currently with Barbados Royals for the upcoming season of the Caribbean Premier League.
Image : republicworld.com
Phillips traveled to the Caribbean after being the fifth-highest run-scorer in The Hundred 2021 scoring 214 runs in eight innings at an average and strike rate of 35.66 and 146.57 respectively for Welsh Fire. Phillips recent form can be judged from the fact that he had emerged as the second-highest run-scorer in Vitality Blast 2021. After amassing 500 runs in 12 innings at an average and strike rate of 55.55 and 162.39 respectively for Gloucestershire.
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Punjab Kings :
Image : espn.in
Punjab Kings have signed Australia fast bowler Nathan Ellis for the second phase of IPL 2021. Because, neither Jhye Richardson nor Riley Meredith is expected to return to complete their maiden season of the IPL. Ellis made his international debut during the recently concluded Australia’s tour of Bangladesh picking a T20I hat-trick in only his first outing.
