Australia's Fraser-McGurk joins Delhi Capitals for IPL 2024
A day after Harry Brook withdrew from IPL 2024, DC faced another setback as Lungi Ngidi will miss the IPL 2024 due to an injury.
A day after Harry Brook confirmed his withdrawal from the Delhi Capitals squad for the upcoming Indian Premier League, another of the franchise's overseas stars – Lungi Ngidi – was ruled out of the season with an injury. The IPL confirmed on Friday that the South African pacer won't play in the upcoming edition of the league, with Jake Fraser-McGurk being announced as his replacement.
"Ngidi, who has played 14 IPL matches and has 25 wickets against his name, was ruled out of the IPL 2024 due to injury," a release from the IPL stated.
Fraser-McGurk has played two One-Day Internationals for Australia and joined DC for his reserve price of INR 50 lakhs.
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Ngidi last featured for the Paarl Royals during the SA20 league in February earlier this year. He had earlier missed the T20I series against India last year, too, but made a return post-recovery during the two-Test series against Rohit Sharma's men.
Ngidi's absence comes as a major blow to the Capitals after Brook's withdrawal; the English batter confirmed that he won't join the franchise following a family tragedy. Brook revealed his grandmother died after prolonged sickness, and he wanted to be close to his family members as they mourned her loss.
The English batter had also missed the five-Test series against India earlier this year owing to his grandmother's illness.
The twin departures leave Delhi Capitals will two overseas frontline pacers in Anrich Nortje and Jhye Richardson. However, Nortje, too, only made his return to competitive cricket last week for the first time since September 2023, as he played in the CSA T20 Challenge.
It remains to be seen whether Nortje will receive the clearance to join the Capitals before their first match of the season on March 23.
In addition to Nortje and Richardson, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Tristan Stubbs, and now Fraser-McGurk complete the overseas lineup for the Capitals.
The major story for the Delhi Capitals has been the return of their star wicketkeeper-batter, Rishabh Pant. The 25-year-old is set to make his first competitive appearance since the near-fatal car crash in December 2022; he was given the full fitness clearance by the NCA earlier this month, paving the way for Pant's comeback in the IPL.
