West Indies’ latest sensation Shamar Joseph has joined Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has replaced England pacer Mark Wood who pulled out of the tournament due to workload management.
Reportedly, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) pulled the fast bowler out of the IPL to manage his workload. The T20 World Cup is set to be played this year in June and then England are scheduled to host West Indies and Sri Lanka during their home season. Moreover, Wood is also featuring in the ongoing Test series against India away from home.
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LSG had signed Wood in the auction for INR 7.5 crore but missed the 2022 edition due to an elbow injury. Last year, the pacer played only four matches and accounted for 11 games at an average of 11.82.
Who is Shamar Joseph?
Coming back to Joseph, he is the toast of the cricketing world after his exceptional performance on the tour of Australia and LSG have paid him INR 3 crore for his services in IPL 2024. He played an instrumental role in the West Indies beating Australia for the first time in Tests since 1997. Moreover, the Caribbean side also became the first team to beat the Aussies in the pink-ball Test.
Joseph made his international debut on the tour while dismissing Steve Smith off the first ball of his career. However, the West Indies ended up losing the Test in Adelaide but Joseph was the real star for them in the second Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Despite sustaining a massive toe injury after being hit by a yorker from Mitchell Starc while batting, Joseph bowled through pain on the fourth day and ended up picking a stunning seven-wicket haul. His figures of 7/68 helped West Indies win the Test match by eight runs and level the two-match series.
The repercussions of playing with injury though were that he was ruled out of the second season of ILT20 where Dubai Capitals had signed him even before the West Indies tour of Australia. But his performance down under has helped him land a deal in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) where he will feature for Peshawar Zalmi starting from February 17.
Interestingly, Joseph’s only exploits so far have been in red-ball cricket and he has experience of playing only two T20 matches. He is yet to pick up a wicket too but then the Caribbean white-ball coach Darren Sammy has also backed him to be a part of the T20 World Cup squad.
As for Lucknow Super Giants, Joseph will now be part of the fast bowling attack comprising Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan, David Willey, Shivam Mavi, Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Singh.
LSG squad for IPL 2024: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, K. Gowtham, Shivam Mavi, Arshin Kulkarni, M. Siddharth, Ashton Turner, David Willey, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Shamar Joseph.
