Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ben Stokes is ruled out of the Indian Premier League 2021 with a broken finger. The England international sustained the injury during Royals’ opening match against Punjab Kings on Monday when taking a catch to dismiss Chris Gayle. The franchise confirmed Stokes' injury through a statement.
Here are five players who could be on the radar as possible replacements.
- Alex Hales (England) - Hales, 32, has emerged as one of the most eye-catching performers in franchise cricket. At the most recent Big Bash League, he finished as the tournament's leading run-scorer with 543 runs for Sydney Thunder.
- Aaron Finch (Australia) - Australia’s white-ball captain had a forgettable IPL 2020 in the UAE, where he averaged just 22.3 with only one 50-plus score for RCB. He has since put his batting slump behind him with match-winning performances against New Zealand in the recently concluded T20I series.
- Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) - Marnus Labuschagne, one of the best batsmen in world cricket, stole the limelight with the ball in the last BBL. His all-round performance propelled Brisbane Heat into its first Bash Finals in four years. In six matches, Labuschange made 176 runs at a strike rate of 123.07 and picked up 10 wickets at an economy rate of 8.58.
- Devon Conway (New Zealand) - Conway finished unbeaten on 99 in a T20I against Australia in Christchurch just few days after going unsold at his base price of Rs 50 lakh at the recent IPL 2021 auction. He is the first New Zealand batsman to make five consecutive 50-plus scores in T20 cricket.
- Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka) - All-rounder Thisara Perera became the first Sri Lankan to hit six sixes in an over in any form of professional cricket during a domestic tournament near Colombo. His unbeaten 13-ball 52 included eight sixes and was also the second-fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in List A cricket, after former Sri Lanka all-rounder Kaushalya Weeraratne’s 12-ball 50 in 2005.
The Royals, meanwhile, will be hopeful of Jofra Archer's swift return to the squad after the pacer was cleared to resume light training following surgery to remove a glass fragment from a tendon on his right hand. "... Archer has been given the all-clear by his hand consultant to resume training after his right hand continues to heal following his operation," ECB said in a statement.
"He will return to light training this week, working closely with the Sussex and England men's medical teams. It's hoped that he will be able to up his intensity with his bowling from next week.
"No decision has been made as yet on when Archer is due to return to playing."
Archer's hand injury was managed by England during their recent test and T20 series in India.
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