IPL 2021 | Dominic Drakes named as Sam Curran’s replacement by Chennai Super Kings

Sam Curran has been ruled out of the remainder of the IPL and the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman due to a lower-back injury on Tuesday. Drakes was in the Mumbai Indians camp as a net bowler before being selected as the replacement for injured Curran ahead of their last league game against Punjab Kings on Thursday, October 7. Drakes is a left-arm quick bowler who can also score quick runs down the order. 

The left-armer picked 16 wickets in 11 games for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League 2021. His most important contribution of the season came with the bat as he hit an unbeaten 48 runs off 24 balls in the fiercely fought final against St Lucia Kings and was named the Player of the Match. In 19 T20s so far, he has picked 20 wickets and has scored 153 runs at a strike rate of 159.37. 

Meanwhile, Curran has played only two matches for Super Kings in the UAE leg. He has had a poor season with the ball, leaking 56 runs and 55 runs in the last two games against Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals respectively in addition to remaining wicketless. Overall this season, he picked nine wickets in nine games with an economy rate of 9.93 and scored 56 runs in four innings.