IPL 2021 | Lungi Ngidi to miss the opening game for the CSK, confirms Kasi Viswanathan
Ngidi to miss out the IPL 2021 opener for CSK
|BCCI
CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan has confirmed the unavailability of South Africa pacer Lungi Ngidi for CSK's 2021 IPL season opener. Not only Ngidi, but other South African stars like Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and David Miller are also likely to miss their team's opening game.
Chennai Super Kings who had their worst IPL season in IPL 2020, will be missing the services of their pacer Lungi Ngidi right from the word go. The unavailability of Lungi Ngidi has been confirmed by the CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan as he made it clear that the Proteas pacer will join the team only after April 5. CSK will lock horns with Delhi Capitals in their first game on April 10 at Wankhede stadium.
“Ngidi will join the team only after April 5. Ngidi will have to follow the same guidelines as others and will be put in quarantine once he arrives. Therefore, he will not be available for selection for the opening game,” Viswanathan told Insidesport, reported HT.
It has been reported that South African players - Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, and David Miller - will also miss the opening fixtures of their respective IPL side as they take the flight to India after completing the ODI series against Pakistan. The three-match ODI series between both sides will commence on April 2 and concluded on April 7.
If true, it comes as a major blow to the IPL franchises given the Proteas stars have been an integral part of their sides and they would have wanted their availability from the earliest. Delhi Capitals' bowling attack might suffer a lot given Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are two sure shot starters in their XI, generally. Their campaign has already been impacted by the absence of Shreyas Iyer after which they named Rishabh Pant as the new skipper.
If Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, who had a great season with the bat last year, misses out early, Ishan Kishan is likely to take the gloves and his opening position, at least, till the time he joins the team.
