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With only a week left for the curtain-raiser of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lucknow Super Giants have been dealt with another major blow. Their marquee player Mark Wood has been ruled out of IPL 2022 with an injury to his elbow. He has also been ruled out of the ongoing series between England and West Indies.
Wood suffered the injury during the training session of the first Test at North Sound and did not bowl much. So, he is now set to take an indefinite break to assess the injury and form a plan of action with ECB's elbow specialist. The England and Wales Cricket Board released a statement regarding the same.
"Scan results have confirmed that Wood has a right elbow injury. He will return to the UK next week for a specialist opinion regarding the management of his injury. The Durham quick, who was due to play in the Indian Premier League, will now miss the tournament and will have an indefinite break from cricket until more information is determined from the elbow specialist," said ECB in a statement.
Who can replace Wood in IPL?
This is indeed a big blow for the newly-formed Lucknow Super Giants as Wood was one of the big purchases of the season. He was roped in by the KL Rahul-led team for a whopping INR 7.5 Crore. Now, the management will look for a like-for-like replacement - someone who can deliver the right lengths at a rapid pace. Although LSG have Chameera in their hut, they need someone to back him up.
There are a few names that are being tossed up as Wood's replacement. West Indies pacer Jayden Seales, Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani are a couple of names that LSG management may consider. Whoever replaces Mark Wood should possess some good international experience as KL Rahul will be short of quite a few marquee overseas players like Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder.