Nathan-Coulter-Nile (1)

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The champions of the inaugural edition, Rajasthan Royals, were cruising on back-to-back victories before Royal Challengers Bangalore halted their winning streak on Tuesday. In the Royals derby, Faf Du Plessis-led Bangalore defeated Rajasthan Royals and handed them their maiden defeat in the season. Now, a day after the Sanju Samson-led side suffered defeat, they received yet another jolt. Allrounder Nathan Coulter-Nile has been ruled out of the remaining season due to an injury he sustained in their opening encounter.

Notably, Coulter-Nile didn't have the perfect start to the campaign as in the only game he played, he conceded 48-runs in three overs and bowled at an economy of 16.00 in that match. Australian all-rounder could only score just one run before Rajasthan won the game against Hyderabad. The information about Nile's departure was notified via the Royals' official Twitter handle as the franchise bid him farewell.

"Until we meet again, NCN. Speedy recovery," caption was written with the tweet. Notably, the franchise secured Nile's services for the current edition for Rs. 2 crores in the mega auctions, and his departure is undoubtedly a big blow for the franchise. As the Royals are yet to announce the replacement for Coulter-Nile, SportsTiger lists out three probable candidates who can replace the Australian allrounder for the remaining of the season.

1.) Ben Cutting:

Another Aussie allrounder who has a fair share of experience while performing in the Indian Premier League. The all-rounder has won many matches for five-time champions Mumbai Indians and the man who finished the final of IPL 2016 in favour of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Cutting has earlier represented IPL franchises like Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. He has played 21 IPL games and has scored 238 runs. He has picked 10 IPL wickets and last played an IPL game in the 2019 season. Ben Cutting came in IPL auctions with a base price of Rs. 75 Lakh, but could not attract any bid from the franchise. Now, Rajasthan Royals may turn around to their former player to fill in the shoes of a quality all-rounder.

2) Dasun Shanaka

Sri Lanka's white-ball skipper Dasun Shanaka came to the IPL auctions at a base price of Rs. 50 Lakh, but none of the franchises showed any interest in securing his services during the two-day event. But, little did they know about his capacities which became the talk of the town during the India versus Sri Lanka three-match T20 series. The skipper displayed his master class in batting as he played blistering knocks in the last two matches to post competitive totals on board. To rescue his side from batting collapse, he scored 47* in 19 and 74 off 38 balls in the second and third match.

Looking at Shanka's performance against India, many cricket fans expressed their feelings that the Sri Lankan skipper must have been sold in IPL auctions as he could have been a dangerous batter in the league. Now, Coulter-Nile's absence has prompted the debate once again, and we will have to wait and watch if Shanka is the preferred replacement by the franchise.

3.) David Wiese

Wiese has earned a reputation for being the perfect all-rounder across the globe. His performance for the Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2022 was one of the takeaways from the league as he performed exceptionally well with bat and ball. Wiese made a valuable contribution to Lahore's title triumph as he scored an unbeaten 28 from eight balls in the final. He finished the tournament with 168 runs in 11 innings, at a strike rate of 184.61, and also picked up nine wickets at an average of just over 27.

Also, his fielding efforts were highly regarded, and he was rated as a top-notch foreign all-rounder participating in the PSL 2022. Wiese is a quality player who can bowl and bat as well in crucial situations and comes with safe pair of hands on the field. He has earlier represented Royal Challengers Bangalore, and other Royals can rope him in as a credible replacement for Nathan Coulter-Nile.