Lucknow set to sign PSL star as Mark Wood's replacement: Reports

Mark Wood's injury during the Test series against West Indies came as a huge blow to the Lucknow-based franchise. As the English pacer was purchased by the new team for a hefty price during the mega auction, he was expected to be one of their key players in the upcoming edition of the Indian T20 league. However, his injury meant that Lucknow needed to replace him with someone else.

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There were a few reports which suggested that they were set to sign Taskin Ahmed but that didn't happen as Taskin was denied the NOC by Bangladesh Cricket Board. In what can be called a major breakthrough, Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani is all set to join the KL Rahul-led side as Wood's replacement. According to a report by Times Now, the Zimbabwean pacer is one of Lucknow's prime targets.

Besides, a recent Tweet more or less confirms the same. The official Twitter handle of the Indian Ambassador in Zimbabwe confirmed that Muzarabani was indeed going to participate in the biggest T20 league in the world. This led to a lot of speculations among the fans.

“Ambassador met with Mr Blessing Muzarabani, the Zimbabwean bowler, as he prepared to leave for the Indian T20 league 2022. Ambassador wished him & his team Lucknow the very best,” read the Tweet. However, it is to be noted that it is yet to be confirmed if he is joining the league as a replacement or as a net bowler. The franchise is yet to give an official statement about the same.

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Ambassador met with Mr Blessing Muzarabani, the Zimbabwean bowler, as he prepared to leave for #IPL2022.

Ambassador wished him & his team #LucknowSuperGiants the very best. #IndiaAt75 @IndianDiplomacy @MEAIndia @iccr_hq pic.twitter.com/8AMPO9Xbyd

— India in Zimbabwe (@IndiainZimbabwe) March 21, 2022

If Muzarabani does get a contract, then he will be the first Zimbabwean cricketer in eight years to feature in the cash-rich league. The last player from the country to play the Indian T20 League was Brendan Taylor. He had represented Hyderabad in 2014 before being released by the franchise in 2015. The other cricketers from Zimbabwe to have featured in the league are Ray Price and Tatenda Taibu, who played for Mumbai and Kolkata respectively.

As far as Muzarabani is concerned, he has picked 25 wickets in 21 T20Is. His bowling average and strike rate are 26.12 and 19.6 respectively. The 25-year-old has an economy rate of 8, which is more than decent in the shortest format of the game. He has played in the PSL as well. Thus, it will be exciting to see if Lucknow does replace the English pacer with this talented bowler from Zimbabwe.