Chennai’s Bravo out of IPL with groin injury
Dubai, UAE - Chennai Super Kings' IPL 2020 woes have deepened with Dwayne Bravo ruled out for the rest of the season on Wednesday.
The Super Kings' CEO Kasi Viswanathan confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Bravo had suffered a Grade 1 tear to his right groin and would be leaving the UAE on Thursday.
"It's sad news, it's sad to be leaving my team CSK," Bravo said in a video message on the Super Kings' Twitter handle later in the day. "To all our CSK fans, I want you all to keep encouraging the team, keep supporting, all the true die-hard CSK fans."
Bravo suffered the injury during the Super Kings' match against the Delhi Capitals on October 17, and was able to bowl only three of his four overs.
With Bravo unable to bowl the 20th over with the Capitals needing 17 to win, the Super Kings turned to Ravindra Jadeja, who conceded 6, 6, 2, 6 to Axar Patel off what turned out to be the last four balls of the match.
Bravo did not feature in the Super Kings' next match, against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday, which they lost by seven wickets - the result left them with six points from ten games, a spot at the bottom of the points table, and almost no hope of progressing to the playoffs.
"This wasn't a season we expected or our fans wanted, but we gave it our best. Sometimes, despite giving our best, the results don't show," Bravo said. "Keep supporting us and I can guarantee you we're going to come back stronger and better like champions.
"One of the most successful franchises, I feel we should be proud to be members and fans of CSK."
According to Viswanathan, Bravo had been provided a rehabilitation programme with an estimated recovery time of two to three weeks.
Bravo missed the start of the season with a knee injury that he sustained during the Caribbean Premier League.
He has since featured in six of the Super Kings' ten matches, taking six wickets while returning an economy rate of 8.57, and batting just twice down the order, scoring seven runs.
MS Dhoni, the Super Kings captain, has predominantly utilised Bravo in the middle and end overs through the seasons. This season, Bravo had bowled 13 of his overs in the middle phase (overs 7-15), conceding 8.23 runs per over and picking up one wicket, and six overs at the death (overs 16-20), bagging five wickets and returning an economy rate of 9.12.
Bravo's injury also raises issues for the West Indies team management because the bowling allrounder was picked last week as part of their squad for the three-match T20I series in New Zealand in November.
As per the proposed schedule the three T20Is will be played on November 27 in Auckland and on November 29 and 30 in Mount Maunganui.
Seifert replaces Khan in KKR side
New Zealand wicketkeeperbatsman Tim Seifert has joined the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL to replace injured bowler Ali Khan. Seifert has played three ODIs and 24 T20Is for the national side.
Khan became the first US national to join the lucrative T20 league after being signed by Kolkata last month after an impressive show in the Caribbean Premier League. He did not play a game, however.