Stanlake and Topley reject offer from CSK
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Australia’s Josh Hazlewood pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are struggling to find his replacement as Australian paceman Billy Stanlake and England pacer Reece Topley have refused the offer to join as a substitute in his place.
Both the players declined the offers citing the increased number of COVID-19 cases in India as a reason.
“Many of them have contracts with English county teams and the permissions aren’t forthcoming due to the rising number of Covid cases, we may have to go for a wildcard and may get one soon enough. But the problems do persist,” a source close to the developments told Times of India.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Nitish Rana, Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Axar Patel, and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Devdutt Padikkal have already contracted the virus. Moreover, 8 groundsmen of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai were tested positive of Covid-19.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) planned Hyderabad as a back-up, however, decided not to change the venue as it’s too late for shifting the venue.
“It’s too late to move the matches from Mumbai now. The members of the organizing team have been in separate bubbles. The players are in a strict bubble. BCCI had Hyderabad as a back-up but it’s very difficult to move it in a week,”
