IPL 2024 | Lucknow Super Giants announce Shamar Joseph as replacement for Mark Wood

Joseph's IPL contract comes at the cost of Mark Wood who is currently involved in the five-match Test series in India. With just one IPL match under his belt before the 2023 season, the Englishman had been picked at the auction by LSG for INR 7.5 crore and immediately took the league by storm to scalp 11 wickets in four games, including a sensational five-wicket haul. However, the injury-prone 34-year-old ended up biding his time on the bench for the entirety of the second half owing to niggles and load management requested by the ECB in lieu of the 2023 World Cup where Wood struggled to make a mark.

Joseph boasts a similar pedigree for pace as the England veteran with a knack for consistently exceeding the 90 mph mark and breached the 150 kph barrier multiple times through the series against Australia. The Guyanese has played just two professional T20s in his career for the Amazon Warriors and is yet to take a wicket in the format but could potentially be eyeing a berth in the West Indies squad for the home T20 World Cup in June with impressive performances in the T20 circuit.