Why Did Mark Wood Opt Out Of IPL 2024?

image-lsg69wlqMark Wood played for LSG in last season's IPL (BCCI)

In an unexpected turn of events, a star player of the Lucknow Super Giants squad has opted out of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). The English cricketer Mark Wood has previously represented Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and played for Lucknow super Giants (LSG) last year.

Mark Wood’s career has seen a major setback due to multiple injuries, which has caused him to miss a lot of cricket action for both international and franchise cricket. 

As per sources close to English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the English board is trying to save their pacer Wood ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, which happens to be just after the conclusion of IPL 2024. ECB has also requested their ace pacer Jofra Archer who happens to step away from IPL 2024 for the same reason.

On the other hand, Lucknow have named the Caribbean pacer Shamar Joseph as a replacement for the English fast bowler. Joseph recently had a remarkable performance during the West Indies tour of Australia. The 24 old young bowler will make his debut in the biggest cricket league in the world, the IPL.


Shamar Joseph’s recent heroics against Australia

Joseph who has not played a T20I before will be representing Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024. He recently made his debut for the West Indies and picked up 13 wickets across two Test matches. 

The team franchises also look forward to welcoming back their captain KL Rahul - who got injured during the initial games of IPL 2023. 


LSG's full Squad ahead of IPL 2024 

KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Devdutt Padikkal, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Amit Mishra, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh, Mohsin Khan, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Shamar Joseph, Mayank Yadav, K. Gowtham, Shivam Mavi, Arshin Kulkarni, Ravi Bishnoi, M. Siddharth, Ashton Turner, David Willey, Mohd. Arshad Khan.