Runner-ups of IPL 2022, the Rajasthan Royals have been given a big blow even before the start of the IPL 2023 as fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has been ruled out of the tournament due to a stress fracture.
Krishna recently underwent surgery for a lumbar stress fracture, which will need a lengthy rehabilitation process, forcing him to miss the entire IPL 2023.
Rajasthan Royals had bought Krishna for INR 10 crore in the IPL 2022 auction. The fast bowler repaid the franchise’s faith.
Prasidh Krishna took 19 wickets in IPL 2022 as RR reached the final
Prasidh’s loss is a big one, though RR have a strong pace-attack comprising Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Navdeep Saini, KM Asif, Obed McCoy, Trent Boult, and Jason Holder.
They will be naming Prasidh’s replacement in the coming weeks, with the IPL 2023 still far away. The IPL 2023 will start on March 31.
Here are 3 Indian pacers who RR can rope in as Prasidh Krishna’s replacement:
Sandeep Sharma
Veteran medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma had gone unsold in the IPL 2023 auction, where he had set his base price at INR 50 lakh.
Sandeep, who has played for PBKS and SRH, has vast experience in the IPL: in 104 IPL matches, Sandeep Sharma has picked up 114 wickets. He is known for his prodigious swing bowling with the new ball, and he can also nail the wide yorker in the slog overs. However, he didn’t have memorable last two IPL seasons, picking up only 5 wickets in 12 IPL matches in last two seasons.
Anyway, the 29-year-old Sandeep Sharma brings great deal of IPL experience, which few in the unsold pacers list do.
He has recently been bowling superbly for Chandigarh in domestic cricket. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Sandeep Sharma took 10 wickets in 6 matches, and in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he took 13 wickets in 7 matches.
Ankit Rajpoot
Uttar Pradesh seamer Ankit Rajpoot not finding any IPL team in the IPL 2023 auction was surprising to some fans. The 29-year-old fast bowler is a regular in domestic cricket, and has considerable IPL experience.
From 2013 to 2020, Rajpoot featured in 29 IPL matches, picking 24 wickets. He remained on the bench throughout the IPL 2022 for Lucknow.
He has been doing well in the domestic white-ball circuit: Rajpoot snared 11 wickets in 9 VHT matches this season and has bowled with steam and aggression.
Rajpoot is also tall – not Prasidh Krishna tall – but he too hits the deck hard. RR can rope him in as Prasidh’s replacement.
Vijaykumar Vyshak
Karnataka’s Vijaykumar Vyshak has built a strong reputation in domestic cricket with his consistent performances in the past couple of seasons, but has failed to grab a deal in the IPL auctions.
In the last SMAT season, the seamer picked up 15 wickets in 8 matches at an economy rate of 6.31, and has overall snared 22 wickets in 14 T20 matches.
Vyshak is known to bowl with good control over his lines and lengths – as indicated in his economy – and this could lead RR to pick him up as Krishna’s replacement.
