Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have included Australian pace sensation Jason Behrendorff in their squad as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood for the upcoming fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Hazlewood had pulled out of IPL 2021 earlier this month, stating he wanted to take a break from a strict bio-bubble schedule to get mentally and physically ready for the international season ahead.
“It’s been a long 10 months in bubbles and quarantine at different times, so I decided to have a rest from cricket and spend some time at home and in Australia in the next two months. We’ve got a big winter ahead too. The West Indies is going to be a long tour, with Bangladesh (T20 tour) potentially thrown on the end of that,” Hazlewood had said as quoted by cricket.com.au.
Apart from Hazlewood, Josh Phillipe and Mitchell Marsh had also opted themselves out of IPL 2021, citing personal reasons.
The much-awaited IPL 14 begins on Friday (April 9), with defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) facing the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Speaking about Behrendorff, he made his IPL debut for MI in the 2019 season. The left-arm pacer played five matches and claimed five wickets, with 2/22 being his best. The New South Wales bowler has appeared in 11 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 7 T20 Internationals (T20I) for Australia, picking up 16 and 7 wickets, respectively.
Jason is all of us right now!
J Behrendorff joins the super lion up for this #Summerof2021 !
Read more : https://t.co/Xe1WU7WWvu#WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛
📸@ICC pic.twitter.com/qYSjcee932— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 9, 2021
The MS Dhoni-led Super Kings will start their campaign in IPL 2021 with a match against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 10 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
