Mark Wood Out of IPL 2024, Shamar Joseph Named Replacement by Lucknow Super Giants

In a major setback for Lucknow Super Giants, their star pacer Mark Wood has been ruled out of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season due to undisclosed reasons. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to pull out the speedster in order to manage his workload ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.This news comes just days after the IPL governing council announced the schedule for the next season, set to start from March 29.

The Super Giants had bought Wood for ₹7.5 crore in the IPL 2022 mega auction. However, he only played four matches in his debut IPL season last year, picking up 11 wickets, before being sidelined with an elbow injury.To fill Wood’s spot, Lucknow Super Giants have named West Indies’ young fast bowler Shamar Joseph as his replacement for IPL 2024. The 25-year-old Joseph has been bought by LSG for ₹3 crore.

He recently had a dream test debut for West Indies, playing a pivotal role in their historic test win against Australia at The Gabba last month.Joseph picked up 7 wickets in the 2nd innings, including the prized scalps of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, scripting only the fifth test win for West Indies on Australian soil in history. His performance earned widespread plaudits from cricketing greats globally.This will be Joseph’s maiden stint in the glamorous IPL.

With only two T20 internationals under his belt so far, it will be trial by fire for the Caribbean quick. His ability to bowl fast and extract bounce on Australian pitches must have convinced the LSG team management about his prospects in Indian conditions too.Earlier, LSG had lost another of their premier pacers, England’s Jofra Archer, after ECB decided to manage his workload too ahead of the T20 World Cup. Archer didn’t play a single game last season.With the unavailability of Wood and Archer, a lot of responsibility will be on Joseph’s young shoulders.

He will have to share the new ball duties with the likes of Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan. His recent heroics in the test arena surely makes him an exciting prospect for the IPL.It remains to be seen if Joseph can translate his red ball brilliance into the shortest format. LSG will hope he can provide them the X-factor with the ball in their quest to win their maiden IPL trophy in 2024.