Chennai Super Kings will miss the services of New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Devon Conway after he has been ruled out of the entire IPL 2024 due to an injury. CSK have added England fast bowler Richard Gleeson to their squad as his replacement.
Conway had suffered a fracture in the joint of his left thumb during the second T20I against Australia in Auckland in February. He subsequently underwent a surgery and was initially expected to join the CSK side in May for the second half of the IPL, but he has now been sidelined from the whole season.
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Conway played a crucial role in guiding CSK to the title in IPL 2023, scoring 672 runs in 15 innings at an average of 51.69 and strike rate of just under 140. In the rain-affected IPL final against Gujarat Titans that stretched for three days, Conway scored 47 to pick the Player-of-the-Match award.
In the absence of Conway, the CSK camp is left with Aravelly Avanish, the India Under-19 wicketkeeper, as the only back-up to veteran stumper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Meanwhile, Conway’s replacement Gleeson has been roped in as a possible filler for Mustafizur Rahman as the Bangladesh left-arm seamer, currently CSK’s highest wicket-taker, with 10 wickets, has been granted NOC by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to play the IPL till May 1.
The 26-year-old Gleeson, made his international debut for England in 2022, when he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant within his first eight balls in a T20I at Edgbaston.
He, however, is yet to feature in the IPL but has had stints in the Hundred (Manchester Originals), BPL (Rangpur Riders), BBL (Melbourne Renegades), SA20 (Durban’s Super Giants), and ILT20 (Gulf Giants). In all, Gleeson has played 90 T20s so far, picking up 101 wickets at an economy rate of 8.18.
