The popular franchise lost their premier left-arm pacer from England after he underwent a shoulder injury on the field.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have brought in Wayne Parnell as their formal replacement for seamer Reece Topley, who has been ruled out of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with an injury.
Entering the RCB set-up with great sense of anticipation around him, England left-arm quick Topley disclocated his shoulder during the team’s opening game of IPL 2023 on Saturday (April 1) versus the Mumbai Indians (MI).
The young pacer, known for the new-ball utility he provides with his ability to move it both ways at decent clicks with the left-arm threat, could only bowl two overs for the three-time finalists before an ill-advised diving save dented his wings irrevocably.
Reece Topley was seen in excruciating pain the moment he bumped onto the turf as the pacer was immediately checked in by the rest of his RCB teammates and the medical staff before leaving the field in Bangalore.
He missed RCB’s next match on Thursday (April 6) against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). It has now been confirmed that he is ruled out of the season entirely.
The RCB think-tank has brought in Topley’s like-for-like replacement in the form of Parnell, the South African allround cricketer.
The Proteas left-arm quick brings with him the left-arm pace angle and new-ball swing into play with him, apart from the ability to belt the ball down the order.
Those are attributes that have kept Parnell ticking and relevant within the South African set-up. Since the start of the pandemic years back in 2020, the 33-year-old has played 16 T20Is for his national side with 18 wickets taken at 8.26 runs an over.
Overall, the cricketer has played 56 T20Is for South Africa and taken 59 wickets at an economy rate of 8.29, which is less than 7.85 runs an over he has conceded in a whopping 257 domestic T20s that he has played as a journeman league cricketer for multiple franchises in the world.
Parnell is making his return to the IPL after nearly a decade since he represented the now-defunct Pune Warriors franchise. The pacer had previously turned out for the Delhi side.
