IPL 2022: LSG’s Mark Wood ruled out of the season

In what can be called a major blow for Lucknow Super Giants, Mark Wood has been ruled out of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The England speedster sustained an elbow injury during the first Test against West Indies in Antigua last week. The same forced him to miss the ongoing second Test in Barbados.

As Wood’s injury is set to take a while to heal, he’ll not feature in IPL 2022, which gets underway on March 26. It must be noted that Wood is among the fastest bowlers going around and his T20I numbers are pretty impressive as well. Owing to the same, many franchises went after him in the mega auction last month. However, Lucknow Super Kings eventually won the bidding war and acquired Wood’s services for a staggering INR 7.5 crore.

ECB has informed Lucknow Super Giants about Mark Wood’s unavailability

However, as per a report in ESPNcricinfo, the star fast bowler won’t serve the team this season. It has been learnt that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has sent the medical update to LSG officials regarding Wood’s unavailability throughout the season. The franchise is yet to name a replacement.

Notably, Wood’s only IPL appearance was recorded in 2018, wherein he served Chennai Super Kings. Wood conceded 49 runs in his quota of four overs and couldn’t take a wicket either. However, he has been on a roll for England in T20Is lately. In 19 games in the shortest international format, Wood has taken 26 wickets at an economy rate of 8.76.

He even played an instrumental role in taking England to the semi-finals in the T20 World Cup 2021. Owing to all these factors, he would have been one of the first-choice players in the LSG line-up. However, the KL Rahul-led side now needs to get another potent pace-bowling option.  Meanwhile, LSG will kick-start their IPL campaign against another new team Gujarat Titans on March 28 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.