Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani is set to join Indian Premier League (IPL) side Lucknow Super Giants. On late Monday (March 21) night, the Indian embassy in Zimbabwe posted a picture of the ambassador with Muzarabani and stated that the Zimbabwe pacer is leaving for India to play for the Lucknow Super Giants.
“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,” India in Zimbabwe tweeted.
Stats and numbers
The 25-year-old Zimbabwe pacer made his debut in T20I back in 2018 against Afghanistan. In the shortest format of the game, Muzarabani has till now played in 21 matches and picked up 25 wickets. In the latest edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), Muzarabani played for the 2021-22 title-winning side Multan Sultans. In PSL, he claimed five wickets in four matches.
The right-arm pacer is going to be the first Zimbabwe cricketer in eight years to participate in IPL. Previously, Tatenda Taibu, Ray Price and Brendan Taylor were roped in by IPL teams.
The Harare-born pacer has also played in six Test matches 30 ODIs for his national team.
Earlier, the new IPL entrant- Lucknow Super Giants team had to suffer a big blow after their English player Mark Wood was ruled out of the entire IPL because of his injury. It is worth mentioning that, Wood was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants franchise for an amount of Rs 7.5 Crore. It is not clear whether Muzarabani will join the Lucknow-based franchise as Wood's replacement or just as a net bowler.
Taskin denied NOC
It is worth mentioning that, earlier reports had suggested that KL Rahul-led Lucknow team would rope in Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed as Wood’s replacement but the 26-year-old pacer was denied a No-Objection Certificate to participate in IPL.
Lucknow Super Giants full squad for IPL 2022:
KL Rahul, Avesh Khan, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav
