(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] England pacer Gus Atkinson has opted out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Atkinson was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2024 auction at the base price Rs 1 crore.
In a press release issued on Monday, IPL annouced that Atkinson his withdrawn from the upcoming season of the tournament. Moreover, Sri Lanka fast-bowler Dushmantha Chameera has been named as Atkinson’s replacement.
While no reason was revealed for Atkinson’s decision to pull out of what could have been his maiden IPL season, this follows a similar decision made by Mark Wood, who reportedly was asked by the ECB to manage his workload for the T20 World Cup 2024.
“Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Dushmantha Chameera as a replacement for England pacer Gus Atkinson for the upcoming edition of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024,” the IPL release said.
“Chameera will join KKR at a reserve price of INR 50 Lakh. The Sri Lankan speedster, who is known for his pace, and can trouble the batters with his swing and seam movements, was a part of Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2018 and 2021 IPL seasons, respectively. He represented Lucknow Super Giants in the 2022 season, where he picked up nine wickets from 12 matches,” it added.
As for Chameera, he is currently injured. After limping off the ground in the first ODI of the recently-concluded series between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, he did not feature in the next two games.