Shamar Joseph, the West Indies pacer, has been named as replacement for Mark Wood in the Lucknow Super Giants squad for the upcoming Indian Premier League. Joseph will join LSG for INR 3 Crore.
The 24-year old quick impressed in the recently-concluded Test series against Australia, bagging 13 wickets in the two Tests, including figures of 7-68 in the second innings of the Gabba Test which helped West Indies level the series.
Every angle, every call – how the broadcasters celebrated Shamar Joseph and the West Indies’ historic Gabba win #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/zainOcQ79C
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 28, 2024
Joseph has featured in only two T20 matches in his career. He was part of the Guyana Amazon Warriors setup in the 2023 edition of the Caribbean Premier League.
The reason for Wood’s unavailability isn’t clear yet. The England pacer was part of LSG in 2022 but couldn’t feature in the competition due to an elbow injury. He played four matches in the 2023 edition, bagging 11 wickets (including a fifer) before pulling out due to personal reasons.
“Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) named Shamar Joseph as replacement for pacer Mark Wood for the upcoming edition of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024,” the statement read.
“Joseph will join LSG for INR 3 Crore. The speedster was recently at the forefront during West Indies’ Test win at the Gabba. He picked 7 wickets in the 2nd innings to script a historic win in Australia for West Indies. This will be Joseph’s first stint in the IPL.”
The 24-year-old Joseph had made his debut in the first Test of the two-match series; however, it was in the second Test that he produced an outing to remember for the ages. Joseph ran through the Australian batting order with an exceptional spell (11.5-0-68-7), propelling the Windies to a nail-biting eight-run victory at the Gabba, a venue renowned as a stronghold for the hosts.
🚨 NEWS 🚨: Lucknow Super Giants name Shamar Joseph as replacement for Mark Wood. #TATAIPL
Details 🔽https://t.co/RDdWYxk2Vp
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 10, 2024
Joseph’s achievement was particularly remarkable considering his recent past as a security guard and his perseverance through a toe injury. In fact, the bowler was forced to withdraw from his International League T20 (ILT20) stint due to the injury.
Joseph had hobbled off the field before the final day of the Test when he was struck by a searing Mitchell Starc yorker from the final ball of West Indies’ second innings. Despite the injury, Joseph bowled and flattened Australia for 207 to give the West Indies a memorable win.
Opening batter Steve Smith was left stranded with an unbeaten 91 off 146 balls as Joseph kept coming hard at the Australian batters with his pace.
“Shout out for my teammates for their support,” Joseph told broadcasters soon after masterminding West Indies’ memorable win.
“I wasn’t even going to come to the ground today, but the doctor did something to my toe. I don’t know what he did, but it worked.”