Lucknow Super Giants replaced their star English pacer Mark Wood with West Indies bowler Shamar Joseph for the upcoming Indian Premier League 2024 season on Saturday, February 10. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) reportedly pulled out Wood to manage his workload ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.
The Caribbean fast bowler recently made a memorable entry in international cricket and is set to make a debut in the IPL. The 24-year-old right-arm pacer took 14 wickets in two Tests against Australia on his debut in international cricket last month. Shamar took seven wickets in the second innings at The Gabba Test to give West Indies a historic Test win in Australia after 27 years.
Shamar will join the KL Rahul-led LSG side for INR 3 crore. Mark Wood was signed during the IPL 2022 auction for INR 7.5 crore but the speedster missed the season with an injury. Wood made an early impact in the IPL 2023 with 11 wickets in just four matches but struggled with his injuries again.
"Lucknow Super Giants name Shamar Joseph as a replacement for Mark Wood," IPL media advisory said. "Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) named Shamar Joseph as a replacement for pacer Mark Wood for the upcoming edition of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Joseph will join LSG for INR 3 Crore. The speedster was recently at the forefront during West Indies’ Test win at the Gabba. He picked 7 wickets in the 2nd innings to script a historic win in Australia for West Indies. This will be Joseph's first stint in the IPL."
The Lucknow-based franchise spent heavily to strengthen their pace attack during the IPL 2024 auction in December last year. LSG signed Shivam Mavi for INR 6.4 crore and also secured the signatures of David Willey and Arshad Khan to bolster their pace-bowling options. Shamar is further expected to boost their pace attack ahead of the IPL 2024 having made a memorable start to red-ball cricket.
