"I knew I was going home" - Reece Topley recalls his injury during IPL 2023

England limited-overs specialist Reece Topley has recalled his early exit from IPL 2023 due to his shoulder injury. The left-arm seamer revealed that he knew about not being able to play anymore in the tournament and only focused on returning to full fitness at the earliest.

Topley, who was bought for ₹1.9 crore at the IPL 2023 auction by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), bowled only two overs before suffering a shoulder injury while fielding. He dismissed Cameron Green and was ruled out of the following games.

The 29-year-old recalled that he knew he was going to return home the moment he suffered the injury. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, the towering seamer stated:

"I knew I was going home. When I was sat in Bangalore with my humerus bone in front of my pec, I was just like, 'wow, how quickly can I get home to have surgery?' It wasn't like I was going to hang around or whatever. It was just, like, let's just get out of here."

The left-arm seamer underwent four stress fractures between 2016 and 2020. However, 12 months ago, he registered his best ODI figures of 9.5-2-24-6 to blow India away at Lord's.

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Reece Topley eyes spot in England's 2023 World Cup squad

Reece Topley. (Image Credits: Getty)

Topley has set his sights on playing the 2023 World Cup and easing himself back into international cricket with the ODIs against Ireland and New Zealand. He added:

"I'm really excited. There's a lot of debate about 50-over cricket, but when there's a World Cup on the horizon, there's few other things that you can say you're going to prioritise ahead of 50-over cricket. It's a nice run-in with the Hundred, but those ODI series against Ireland and New Zealand will be about people trying to get in the XI for October."

England will host Ireland for three ODIs, starting on September 20, and New Zealand for four T20Is and as many ODIs, beginning on August 30.