Delhi Capitals brought in Shams Mulani as a short-term Covid-19 replacement for Axar Patel for their Indian Premier League 2021 campaign, it was announced on Thursday while regular captain Shreyas Iyer has been replaced by Anirudha Joshi.
Axar had tested positive for coronavirus during his mandatory quarantine ahead of the season and was subsequently taken to BCCI’s medical facility for isolation and treatment.
Mulani, a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler from Mumbai, comes in as a replacement under IPL’s Player Regulations. Under the Regulation 6.1 (c), franchises are allowed to sign a short-term replacement player until the original squad member is permitted to re-enter the team’s bio-secure environment. Hence, Mulani will only be a part of the Delhi Capitals side until Axar recovers and is allowed to join the team, the league said.
Mulani represents Mumbai in domestic cricket and has featured in 10 First-Class, 30 List A and 25 T20s so far. This will be his maiden experience at the IPL. However, Mulani will not be permitted to represent another IPL franchise this season once he leaves the Delhi Capitals.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals have also signed Joshi as a replacement for the injured Shreyas Iyer for the remainder of IPL 2021. Iyer was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining an injury during the recent India-England One-Day International series.
Iyer’s injury happened while fielding in the first ODI in Pune. He was ruled out of the recently concluded ODI series against England as well as the entire IPL starting next month.
Iyer dislocated his left shoulder while fielding during the first ODI against England on Tuesday and he is set to undergo surgery, which will rule him out of action for a minimum of four months.
Joshi, a middle-order batsman and an off-spinner, joins his third IPL team, having been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals in the past. He represents Karnataka in domestic cricket and has featured in 17 List A and 22 T20 matches so far.
Delhi Capitals have won one and lost one match in the IPL so far under Rishabh Pant’s captaincy.
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