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The injury list in IPL-9 continues to grow. The week gone by saw two more players from Rising Pune Supergiants -- Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith -- exit the tournament.
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com takes stock of the players forced out of the cash-rich Twenty20 extravaganza by injury.
Here's a lowdown on the injury list.
Steve Smith
Steven Smith joined the growing list of casualties in the Indian Premier League when he was forced to pull out of the rest of the tournament because of a bothersome wrist injury.
The withdrawal of Australia’s captain only added to the mounting woes of Rising Pune Supergiants, who had earlier lost Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis and Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh to injuries.
Smith's pull-out was confirmed by Cricket Australia Sports Science and Sports Medicine Manager Alex Kountouris, who said the right-handed batsman was struggling with pain in his right wrist for the last week.
He, however, stressed that the decision to withdraw the player was taken as a precautionary measure and the injury did not appear to be serious.
In Pietersen and Du Plessis’s absence, Smith was the mainstay of the the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Supergiants’ batting, scoring 270 runs from seven innings, including a hundred (101), at an average of 45.
Mitchell Marsh
Having already lost former England batsman Kevin Pietersen (calf) and South African Faf du Plessis (finger) to injuries, Rising Pune Supergiants were dealt another blow on Sunday, May 1, when Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was forced to return home from the League with a side strain.
He will be assessed ahead of Australia's tour of West Indies next month, Cricket Australia said.
CA sports science and sports medicine manager Alex Kountouris said, "Mitchell experienced some pain over his left abdominal area whilst batting at a training session with his team Pune in the IPL a few days ago.
"He missed his team's next game and the pain has not resolved. He had scans in India that suggest he has a side strain injury and will now return home for further assessment and treatment ahead of the tour of the West Indies.
"Once we have a better understanding of the extent of the injury we will be able to advise on his return to play timeframes."
Marsh batted just once in three matches, scoring 7. He ended up with four wickets for 45 runs from the three matches, with a best of 2 for 14.
Faf du Plessis
The South African batsman, the Supergiants’s second-highest scorer with 206 runs, at an average of 34.33, from six matches, was ruled out of the tournament following a finger injury, sustained in the team’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, April 26, while fielding.
Despite the injury he came out to bat and scored 30 off 21 balls, which included three fours and two sixes. However, a scan later revealed a fracture that will keep him out of cricket action for six weeks.
Kevin Pietersen
Before Faf du Plessis’s exit, the Pune franchise was stripped off the services of their star batsman, Kevin Pietersen. KP, as he is fondly called, injured his calf while batting against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It eventually led to his exit from the tournament.
While Australia’s Usman Khawaja has been called up as a replacement, the exit of KP and du Plessis is a severe blow to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team’s chances in their maiden season.
Lasith Malinga
Undoubtedly the most successful bowler in IPL history, who has won many close games for Mumbai Indians. The Sri Lankan pacer pulled out of the World T20 owing to a serious knee injury, sustained during the West Indies' tour of Sri Lanka last November.
While he was expected to turnout for the Mumbai franchise in the second half of the IPL season, it was revealed that the defending champions would have to continue their campaign without their most dependable bowler. West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor was named his replacement. Only time will tell whether the West Indian can fill the big shoes of the man they call ‘Slinga’.
Samuel Badree
The world’s top-ranked bowler in T20 Internationals, Badree played a crucial role in the West Indies’ winning the ICC World T20 for the second time earlier this month in Kolkata.
The experienced leg-spinner had suffered a shoulder injury while fielding in the final against England and was subsequently ruled out of the IPL.
His absence is a severe blow to Royal Challengers Bangalore, whose bowling is toothless in comparison to their mighty batting line-up.
Lendl Simmons
The opening batsman played a dominant role in Mumbai Indians winning the IPL last season.
Joint second-highest run-scorer (540 runs, including six fifties, from 13 matches) in IPL 8, despite playing a game less than David Warner (562 runs from 14 games) and Ajinkya Rahane (540 runs from 14 games), Simmons was Mumbai’s best batsman in 2015. Flown to India for the World T20 at the last minute, Simmons single-handedly demolished tournament favourites India in the semi-finals of the tournament.
While Mumbai expected him to fire in IPL 9, his troublesome lower back injury aggravated again, ruling him out of the tournament after the opening match against Pune Rising Supergiants in which he scored just 8.
Martin Guptill replaced Simmons, but the Kiwi opener failed to fire in the single opportunity he got against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Mitchell Starc
The hero of Australia’s 2015 World Cup triumph, the pacer injured his ankle during the inaugural Day-Night Test against New Zealand. He was on the path to recovery, but Cricket Australia chose not to risk their premier bowler playing in the IPL. Starc and Badree’s exclusions have certainly affected Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling.
The Bengaluru franchise have named England all-rounder Chris Jordan as Starc’s replacement.
Yuvraj Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad fans need not worry. Yuvraj is definitely not ruled out of the tournament, yet.
The injury he suffered during the World T20 quarter-final against Australia has kept him out of the crucial first phase of IPL 9, but the swashbuckling all-rounder is expected to return in the first week of May.
John Hastings
The Kolkata Knight Riders pacer had to returned home following an ankle injury after playing just two matches.
The Aussie pacer hurt himself while warming-up ahead of KKR’s match against Mumbai Indians but bowled his quota of overs, and with figures of 4 for 31 runs was the most economical bowler as the team failed to defend 187.
Joel Paris
The Australian left-arm fast bowler was hoping to make his IPL debut this season after being purchased by Delhi Daredevils for his base price of Rs 30 lakh.
However, a shin injury put paid to his hopes. His home state of Western Australia confirmed he was withdrawn after suffering a shin stress reaction during a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in Perth.