New Delhi, India

West Indies' newest pace sensation, Shamar Joseph, has been rewarded for his brave outing in the famous Gabba win with an IPL contract. Joseph has replaced England seamer Mark Wood in the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) squad for INR 3 crores, an IPL statement said on Saturday (Feb 10).

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As per the statement, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) pulled out Wood from IPL 2024 (starting mid-March) to manage his workload.

Considering the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA (which begins on June 3) that follows, England wants its seamers, mainly injury-prone ones, including Wood and recovering Jofra Archer, to not participate in the 17th season of the Indian Premier League.

With England hosting West Indies and Sri Lanka after the marquee event, the former T20 WC winners are keen on protecting their centrally-contracted players.

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Meanwhile, the newly-inducted IPL franchise LSG bought Wood in the 2022 IPL auction for a whopping INR 7.5 crore. Though he missed that season with a shoulder injury, Wood played just four games in the following edition, picking 11 wickets at 11.82. His sheer pace was his USP as he dominated batters in his limited outings.

Besides Joseph, LSG’s pace attack consists of Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan, David Willey, Shivam Mavi, Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Singh. In the all-rounders' category, LSG has Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers and Arshin Kulkarni, India’s U-19 World Cup player, who can contribute with some overs.

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Joseph’s rise to the top 

Shamar Joseph made his international debut during the recently-concluded Australia Test series and picked a five-for in the first innings of the Adelaide Test. Before that, he also slammed a fifty batting at number 10, becoming the first player from his country to achieve this feat. 

However, his best moment came in the next match in Brisbane, where in the second innings, with a possible broken toe, Shamar picked seven wickets, helping West Indies beat Australia at their fortress in Gabba. His spell on the fourth day broke the internet as everyone, from fans to even the Aussies, praised this budding youngster.

Following his Gabba heroics, West Indies white-ball coach Darren Sammy sounded confident of him breaking into the scheme of things for the home T20 World Cup later this year, saying his presence will bring a ‘good headache’ for the selectors.