IPL 2022: 3 players Lucknow Super Giants could have bought instead of Blessing Muzarabani

Indian Premier League (IPL) newcomers Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were dealt a huge blow when their premier overseas pacer Mark Wood was ruled out of the tournament earlier this month. The Englishman suffered an elbow injury and has decided to take an indefinite break from cricket.

On Monday, the Embassy of India in Zimbabwe broke the news that Blessing Muzarabani is set to take part in IPL 2022. He will replace the injured Mark Wood in the LSG squad.

Harare-born Muzarabani is armed with natural pace and is regarded as the best talent Zimbabwe has produced over the last few years. In his T20 career, the 25-year-old has picked up 44 wickets in 40 matches at a strike rate of 19.6 and an economy rate of 7.91.

However, aside from Muzarabani, there were a few other tempting options that LSG could have chosen to replace Wood. On that note, let's look at three players whom the UP-based franchise could have roped in instead of Muzarabani.

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#3. Joshua Little

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Earlier this month, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) signed Irish pacer Joshua Little as a net bowler for IPL 2022. At the age of 16 years and 309 days, the promising left-armer became the second-youngest player to play T20I cricket. He made his debut against Hong Kong in 2016.

Little has the ability to ability to swing the ball early on and at a quick speed as well. He can also limit the run-flow in death overs and has showcased his brilliance at the highest level. Overall in T20s, the Dublin-born bowler has picked up 54 wickets at an excellent economy of 7.20 in 53 innings.

Picking Little could have added more variety to LSG's bowling attack as they have just one other option in the form of Mohsin Khan, who is an unproven commodity in the IPL.

Being part of the CSK camp, the bubble-to-bubble transfer would not have caused any issues

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#2. Andrew Tye

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With a base price set at ₹1 crore, Andrew Tye had his name called three times at the IPL 2022 mega-auction. However, the Australian went unsold as no franchise showed any interest in him.

Considered a T20 specialist, Tye would have been a suitable replacement for Wood. With over 180 T20 matches under his belt, the right-armer has vast experience of playing in the shortest format of the game.

Since his debut in 2014, Tye has picked up a massive 251 wickets in T20s at an average of just above 20 and an economy of 8.04. The 35-year-old has a deceptive slower ball in his repertoire and uses the knuckle ball skillfully during the various phases of the game.

Tye even has 27 IPL matches under his belt and has previously played for Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals. In 2018, he bagged the IPL Purple Cap after claiming 24 wickets in 14 matches.

The Aussie's death over specialist also played a pivotal role in the Perth Scorchers' triumph at 2021-22 the Big Bash League (BBL) season. He scalped 19 wickets from 13 outings at an average of 17.58 and an economy of 7.86.

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#1. Naveen-ul-Haq

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One Afghan player, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, has already received an IPL contract from Gujarat Titans as a replacement for Jason Roy. The Andy Flower-coached unit too had a chance to add another Afghani player to the marquee event had they acquired Naveen-ul-Haq as a replacement.

Unlike Wood and Muzarabani, Naveen-ul-Haq doesn't possess bags of pace. Rather, the Kabul-born pacer relies more on his change of pace and variations.

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The 22-year-old has picked up 109 wickets in 93 T20 encounters at an ideal strike rate of 17.8. For Afghanistan, the right-armer has scalped 18 wickets in 13 T20Is at an impressive economy of 7.6.

Naveen-ul-Haq is an astute bowler who is equally effective with both the new and the old ball. Had LSG chosen to rope in Naveen-ul-Haq, it would have added some variety to their pace attack.