MI name England pacer Wood as replacement after Behrendorff ruled out of IPL 2024 with injury

Mumbai Indians on Monday named England pacer Luke Wood as replacement for Australia’s Jason Behrendorff, who had been ruled out of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) with an injury.

Left-arm pacer Wood comes in as a like-for-like replacement for Behrendorff, who had collected 14 wickets in 12 outings for the Mumbai Indians last year at an average of 27.64 and a strike rate of 18.00.

Wood, who signed with the five-time champions at his base price of Rs 50 lakh, has made seven appearances for England in the past — five T20Is and two ODIs — and has 147 wickets to his name from 140 appearances in T20s, including a five-fer and a four-fer.

Wood has plied his trade for franchises in T20 leagues all over the world, from Trent Rockets in the Hundred and Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League to Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League among others, and will be gearing up for his maiden stint in the IPL this season.

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Behendorff’s injury-forced exit from the 17th season of the cash-rich league has further compounded MI’s injury woes, with Sri Lankan pacer Dilshan Madushanka set to miss the initial stages of the IPL after picking up an injury during the ODI series against Bangladesh.

Also Read | All players ruled out of IPL 2024 and their replacements

Additionally, South African pacer Gerald Coetzee, who like Wood is also gearing up for his maiden IPL stint this year, might also miss a few games due to a pelvic inflammation.

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Star batter Suryakumar Yadav too is likely to miss MI's opening game against Gujarat Titans on Sunday, 24 March as the India T20I vice-captain continues to recover from an ankle surgery that he underwent earlier this year.

MI, who are set to begin a new era under Hardik Pandya’s leadership this year after the conclusion of Rohit Sharma’s decade-long, trophy-laden reign, will be relying primarily on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah when it comes to running through opposition batting lineups.

The senior pacer will have the support of rising Indian seamer Akash Madhwal, who was one of the breakout stars in the IPL last year, as well as Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Thusara for support, with seam-bowling all-rounder Pandya also expected to send down a few overs during the course of the season. Mumbai also have Romario Shepherd as an option for seam-bowling duties after bringing the West Indian all-rounder onboard following a trade with the Lucknow Super Giants.