With just more than a week to go for the Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings have been dealt a huge blow with Australian seamer Nathan Ellis ruled out of the tournament. The Indian Express understands that Ellis, who was supposed to be the leader of the pace pack, has suffered a hamstring injury and won’t be able to recover in time, forcing the franchise to look at alternate options.
The absence of Ellis weakens what is already a thin pace pack without much IPL experience. Having let go of Matheesha Pathirana, Chennai were pinning their hopes on Ellis as a reliable option for death overs, with his variety. of slower balls and yorkers. But his absence means CSK will face a hard time in finding a reliable alternative, as he came with a definite role in this team.
Apart from Ellis, the pace pack in the squad includes New Zealand’s Matt Henry, a seamer who had a terrific T20 World Cup recently, and Jamie Overton. The England all-rounder could now end up being a solution from within, as the other overseas seamer in the set-up, Zak Foulkes, doesn’t have much experience on his side. Even with regard to local talents, CSK are thin on reliable options with Khaleel Ahmed being the face of a young pace unit.
Apart from the left-arm seamer, there is Anshul Kamboj, who had an impressive debut season last year, even as CSK finished bottom of the table. Then there is Ramakrishna Ghosh, who had some good returns in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s. Beyond them are the two left-arm seamers, the highly-rated Gurjapneet Singh and Mukesh Choudhary.
With regards to replacements, it would be interesting to see who CSK turn to with all the big names already sold at the player auctions. In Gerald Coetzee, there is a pacer with IPL experience. And then there are the likes of Alzarri Joseph, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Spencer Johnson, and Wiaan Mulder.
With their pace options thin and given the air routes being affected, CSK is likely to finalise their replacement soon and bring on board the player at the earliest. CSK, to be led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, will take on Rajasthan Royals in their first match on March 30 in Guwahati.
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