Mark Wood ruled out of IPL 2022 due to elbow injury - Reports
England international Mark Wood will reportedly miss the upcoming IPL 2022 due to an elbow injury. The pacer picked up the injury during the first Test between England and West Indies in Antigua.
The 32-year-old is the third English player to be ruled out of IPL 2022 so far. His fellow countrymen Alex Hales and Jason Roy pulled out of the tournament a few weeks ago, citing bubble fatigue.
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) sought the services of Mark Wood for a price of ₹7.5 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction last month. According to a report from ESPN Cricinfo, the franchise received a report from the England Cricket Board's medical staff which highlighted his right elbow injury. The KL Rahul-led side are yet to announce a replacement for the pace bowler.
The right-arm fast bowler could only bowl 17 overs in the first Test before leaving the field. He felt searing pain in his elbow while bowling in the nets on the eve of the fifth day. Saqib Mahmood was handed his debut Test cap in Barbados after Wood was ruled out of the West Indies tour.
He is feared to have suffered a similar injury that Jofra Archer sustained. Archer required two surgeries on his elbow and is still undergoing rehabilitation to return to full fitness.
Mark Wood has had an injury-riddled career so far
The 2019 World Cup winning member is no stranger to injuries. Recurring issues have hampered his progress in the national team as well as in franchise cricket. He went under the knife thrice in the space of 12 months in 2016 to treat an ankle injury.
He was recently in action during the Ashes Down Under, where he was England's leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets.
Lucknow Super Giant squad for IPL 2022
KL Rahul (captain) , Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Ankit Rajput, K Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav, Kyle Mayers.
The Lucknow Super Giant will have to find a new pacer to spearhead their bowling attack. As of now, their primary overseas pace bowling option comes in the form of Sri Lanka's Dushmanta Chameera.