(Football news) Due to an injury, Devon Conway, a wicketkeeper-batter for the Chennai Super Kings and New Zealand, would miss the entirety of the 2024 Indian Premier League. Richard Gleeson, an England fast bowler, has been added by CSK to their roster as his substitute.
During the second Twenty20 International match between Australia and New Zealand in February, Conway sustained a fracture to his left thumb joint. Conway underwent surgery after that, and CSK had hoped to have him back for the second part of the IPL in May. However, he has now missed the entire season due to injury.
Conway was central to CSK winning the title in IPL 2023, scoring 672 runs in 15 innings at an average of 51.69 and strike rate of just under 140. Forty-seven of those runs came in a rain-hit three-day T20 final against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, where Conway also won the Player-of-the-Match award.
Conway’s injury-enforced absence leaves Aravelly Avanish, the India Under-19 wicketkeeper, as the only back-up to MS Dhoni at CSK.
Gleeson’s addition might help CSK fill the void that Mustafizur Rahman’s absence would create. The Bangladesh, left-arm seamer, who is currently CSK’s highest wicket-taker, with ten strikes, has been granted NOC by the BCB to play the IPL till May 1.
Gleeson, 36, is a late bloomer, who made his first professional appearance aged 27 at Northamptonshire. He then emerged as Northamptonshire’s second-highest wicket-taker in the T20 Blast in 2016, with 14 strikes in ten games at an economy rate of under six.
At the age of 34, Gleeson made his debut for England on the international scene in 2022 at Edgbaston when he removed Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Rishabh Pant in the first eight deliveries of a Twenty20 match. This summer, he is going to move into the ground.
Although Gleeson has never participated in the IPL, he has played for the Manchester Originals in the Hundred, the Rangpur Riders in the BPL, the Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, the Durban Super Giants in the SA20, and the Gulf Giants in the ILT20.
Gleeson has played 90 T20 matches overall and has amassed 101 wickets at an economy rate of 8.18.
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