Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies allrounder, has failed to recover from his hamstring injury and as a result, will miss the entire edition of the Indian Premier League 2017. Gujarat Lions team owner Keshav Bansal confirmed the news on Twitter on Sunday (April 23), just minutes ahead of his side’s encounter against Kings XI Punjab.
Bravo injured his hamstring in December last year while playing the Big Bash League in Australia and hasn’t played a competitive match ever since. Even though he joined the Lions squad for the IPL, he was not expected to play the initial matches in the tournament as he was still recovering from the surgery he had on his left hamstring.
A few days ago, Bravo posted a video on social media where he revealed that he was back training. He also revealed in an interview on the sidelines during the Lions-Royal Challengers Bangalore contest that he could be back in action after one or two games.
The latest news comes as a huge blow for a side that has been struggling in the bowling department. Bravo picked up 17 wickets in 15 matches last season for Lions.
Skipper Suresh Raina confirmed the development during the toss and admitted that the management could opt to get a replacement. “Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the tournament,” he said. “He had been doing all the rehab but just couldn’t take the heat. Would need another few weeks to get ready. We need to have a chat with the management and see who could be the replacement.”
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