Kolkata: Rajasthan Royals, who will be missing out on the famed England trio in the second phase of IPL 2021 in the UAE, beefed up their spin attack by signing up South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi, the world no. 1 ranked T20I bowler. The left-arm wrist spinner from Johannesburg is the second replacement player for the franchise after Glenn Phillip, the wicketkeeper-batsman from New Zealand.
Shamsi, 31, represents The Titans in South Africa’s domestic cricket and made his international debut during a bilateral T20I series against England in 2017. The left-arm slow bowler has since picked up 45 wickets in 39 T20Is, along with 32 wickets in 27 ODIs for his nation.
This will be incidentally his second stint in the IPL, for Shamsi had taken three wickets from four matches for Royals Challengers Bangalore, who had recruited him as a replacement player, during the 2016 season.
Meanwhile, Royals announced that Australian pace bowler Andrew Tye won’t be available for the remainder of the IPL season after Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer pulled out of the UAE leg due to variety of reasons. “It is with great regret that I have to pull out of the remainder of the IPL 2021 with the Rajasthan Royals. In the last year I have had just 10 weeks out of bio secure bubbles and hubs, including 10 weeks spent doing five hotel quarantine stints. Having put everything into doing all I can to force my way into the World Cup squad, it’s now time for a rest.
‘‘Therefore, I’ve had to make the tough decision to stay home to prepare myself mentally and physically for another big year. I’d like to thank Rajasthan for their full support through what’s been a difficult year for many people. While I’m gutted I won’t be able to rejoin the Royals family this year, I will be cheering the team on. Thank you for your understanding,” added Tye.
