Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been officially ruled out of the tournament. CSK will now be without the services of Dwayne Bravo for the remainder of IPL 2020 as the West Indian is set to fly out of the UAE after picking up a groin injury. The allrounder suffered the injury during CSK’s game against Delhi Capitals on October 17. “Bravo is ruled out with groin injury,” Kasi Viswanathan, CEO of Chennai Super Kings, confirmed to the popular cricket website Cricbuzz today.
“He will fly out tomorrow. The team management will decide if we need a replacement,” he added. Bravo last played against Delhi Capitals where CSK lost to Delhi Capitals and Dhawan scored an unbeaten century. The former WI captain Bravo bowled three overs in the match against Delhi Capitals, but wasn’t available to bowl his fourth having picked up the injury. CSK had to use Ravindra Jadeja for the 20th over with the Capitals needing 17 for victory. The left-arm spinner ended up being hit for three sixes by Axar Patel. He had also missed the initial few matches having picked up a knee niggle during the Caribbean Premier League. He finishes the tournament with six matches, having picked up six wickets at an average of 30 and an economy of 8.57. He got to bat only two times this season and ended up with seven runs. This comes as a big blow for CSK as Bravo was their most experienced death bowler and could have even made an impact for them going further in the tournament.
Hazlewood had replaced Bravo in the eleven during their previous match against Rajasthan Royals. CSK also lost that game to register their seventh defeat in 10 matches in the season so far, with their chances of making it through to the play-offs all but over. Apart from Hazlewood, CSK also have overseas options like Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner and Lungi Ngidi to make up for Bravo’s absence. It would be interesting to see if CSK announce a replacement for DJ Bravo. They now have to depend on other teams in order to qualify for the playoffs this season. CSK have also been significantly impacted by the absence of key players with Suresh Raina returning from the UAE before the start of the IPL due to personal reasons and Harbhajan Singh also opting out of IPL 2020