IPL 2022: Injury Updates, Available and Unavailable Players and Strongest Playing XI for all 10 franchises

Untimely injuries and notable last-minute withdrawals have caught teams off guard and left them unsettled ahead of the much-anticipated IPL 2022. As the tournament begins on Saturday (March 26), we take a look at their player availability and probable XIs amidst the absence of certain first-choice stars. Chennai Super Kings CSK’s biggest absentee happens to […]
 
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IPL 2022: Injury Updates, Available and Unavailable Players and Strongest Playing XI for all 10 franchises

Untimely injuries and notable last-minute withdrawals have caught teams off guard and left them unsettled ahead of the much-anticipated IPL 2022. As the tournament begins on Saturday (March 26), we take a look at their player availability and probable XIs amidst the absence of certain first-choice stars. 

Chennai Super Kings

CSK’s biggest absentee happens to be their heftiest pick at the IPL 2022 mega auction in Bangalore last month. Their key powerplay weapon, Deepak Chahar, who fetched an eye-catching bid of INR 14 crores, is set to miss the start and a major chunk of the tournament due to a quadriceps injury.

Another notable CSK absentee for the opening game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be their spin allrounder Moeen Ali, whose arrival to India from UK was delayed by visa issues. CSK won’t also have Dwaine Pretorius available for the KKR game as he undergoes necessary pre-tournament quarantine after South Africa’s home ODIs against Bangladesh.

CSK Playing XI (first game): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Mitchell Santner, KM Asif, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne

WATCH: Rajvardhan Hangargekar frustrated after dropped catch; dismisses Robin Uthappa next ball in CSK practice game

IPL 2022: Injury Updates, Available and Unavailable Players and Strongest Playing XI for all 10 franchises

Kolkata Knight Riders

For now, KKR are confirmed to miss two of their prominent picks at the IPL 2022 mega auction. England opener Alex Hales’ untimely withdrawal for mental health reasons has left KKR head-scratching over their top-order issues. Hales’ presence at the top was a major part of KKR’s auction planning.

Another major absentee will be spearhead Pat Cummins, whom they rebagged at the bidding war. The Australian fast-bowler will return to Australia after the Pakistan Test series on March 26 and attend the legendary Shane Warne’s funeral. Upon return, Cummins will undergo his three-day quarantine and will be available only from April 6. He is set to skip KKR’s first three matches in the meantime.

KKR Playing XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Rasikh Salam

Mumbai Indians

IPL 2022: Injury Updates, Available and Unavailable Players and Strongest Playing XI for all 10 franchises

Suryakumar Yadav is set to miss MI’s opening game for IPL 2022.

MI were always clear about the imminent absence of Jofra Archer. Still under rehab for an elbow injury, Archer will only be available from IPL 2023. But more immediately, the franchise will be slightly concerned that their middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t yet been released by NCA after rehab from his thumb injury. Going through the final stages of this rehabilitation period, Suryakumar looks certain to miss the opening game.

Mumbai Indians Playing XI (first game): Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Verma, Anmolpreet Singh, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Sanjay Yadav, Tymal Mills, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah

Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH have been the fortune one amidst injuries and tournament pull out. Only one of their players is unavailable at the start. Australian quick Sean Abbott will make a late entry to the IPL bubble because of his involvement in the limited-overs series against Pakistan. He will miss the first three matches. The rest of the squad, including South African recruit Marco Jansen, is available from the first game.

SRH Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (C), Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rahul Tripathi, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Marco Jansen, Kartik Tyagi

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB are set for a major hit as their middle-order retention Glenn Maxwell is set to skip the first two games because of a late arrival post wedding. Apart from Maxwell, pacers Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff will also be unavailable for the opener and two additional games because the Australian players will be released only after April 5.

RCB Playing XI: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Sherfane Rutherford, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed

Rajasthan Royals

There were speculations whether South African middle-order batter Rassie van der Dussen will be available for the start of IPL 2022 but he is set to feature from the beginning despite a quick turnaround from the Bangladesh ODI series.

RR Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (C), Rassie van der Dussen, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravi Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult

Also Read: Aakash Chopra thinks Devdutt Padikkal will be the highest run-scorer for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022

Delhi Capitals

DC will have five notable absentees at the start of their campaign. Opening batter David Warner will be unavailable for first two games, while allrounder Mitchell Marsh won’t be around for first three matches. Apart from these two, pacers Lungi Ngidi and Mustafizur Rahman will miss the first match as well after the recent ODI series. But perhaps the biggest of the misses will be their retention pick Anrich Nortje, who arrived late due to injury rehab and will skip the first few games.

DC Playing XI: Prithvi Shaw, Abhishek Sharma, KS Bharat, Praveen Dubey, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Rovman Powell, Chetan Sakariya

Punjab Kings

PBKS’ two notable exclusions are pacer Kagiso Rabada and wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow. Rabada will skip the opening game because of late ouster from the quarantine phase, while Bairstow will miss the first two matches due to his involvement in England’s Test series in the Caribbean.

PBKS Playing XI: Mayank Agarwal (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Odean Smith, Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Ishan Porel

Lucknow Super Giants

Super Giants were dented majorly by the last-minute injury to Mark Wood, who was ruled out of the IPL 2022 and replaced with Andrew Tye. They will have to also make do with the absence of allrounders Jason Holder and Marcus Stoinis for first two and three matches, respectively, owing to their international commitments. Kyle Mayers will be another of their absentees.

LSG Playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Evin Lewis, Manan Vohra, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan

Gujarat Titans

Titans will have only one absentee for their opening game in West Indies fast-bowler Alzarri Joseph, who is currently playing the third Test against England.

GT Playing XI: Matthew Wade, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Hardik Pandya (c), Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Darshan Nalkande, Mohammed Shami