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Just a week later, the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on March 26 with a high-voltage clash between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Both CSK and KKR were the finalists of the previous season. While the Super Kings ended up winning the final to lift the coveted trophy, KKR finished as runners-up.
The upcoming season of the cash-rich league is expected to witness some more nail-biting contests as this time around, there will be two new teams in the form of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT).
Batting sensation KL Rahul will lead the Lucknow franchise, similarly, the Gujarat team will be captained by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
But, quite a few players might miss the first week for different IPL franchises, either due to injury or international duties. The majority of top-rated Australian players, along with England and West Indies stars, are expected to miss the initial week of the lucrative league.
Aussies such as Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood, and Marcus Stoinis will not feature in the first week of the IPL due to the upcoming limited-overs series against Pakistan. Similarly, Windies players such as Kyle Mayers and Alzaari Joseph and English cricketer Jonny Bairstow might most probably not feature in the opening week due to their involvement in the ongoing Test series.
Apart from the abovementioned superstars, as many as three England cricketers such as Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Mark Wood will be unavailable for the entire fifteenth season as Roy and Hales have taken a bio-bubble break while Wood has been ruled out due to his elbow injury.
Here is the team-wise list of players who will be missing the first week of IPL 2022:
- Pat Cummins (Australia) – Kolkata Knight Riders
- Aaron Finch (Australia) – Kolkata Knight Riders
- Glenn Maxwell (Australia) – Royal Challengers Bangalore
- Josh Hazlewood (Australia) – Royal Challengers Bangalore
- Marcus Stoinis (Australia) – Lucknow Super Giants
- Kyle Mayers (West Indies) – Lucknow Super Giants
- Alzaari Joseph (West Indies) – Gujarat Titans
- Jason Roy (England) – Gujarat Titans
- Jonny Bairstow (England) – Punjab Kings
- Mark Wood (England) – Lucknow Super Giants