Retired England pacer David Willey will miss the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 due to personal reasons.
The left-arm pacer is part of Lucknow Super Giants. however, he did not join the squad and returned to the UK after playing the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine final with Multan Sultans.
Justin Langer, LSG's new head coach, revealed on Wednesday that Willey would not be available for the start of the season, after spending the last two months on the road. Before PSL, he was representing Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the ILT20.
Willey is the second Englishman who is unavailable for the start of LSG's season after Mark Wood was pulled out by the ECB for the whole campaign to manage his workload ahead of the T20 World Cup. Wood has been replaced by Shamar Joseph, the West Indies fast bowler, while Willey has not yet been replaced.
"With Mark Wood pulling out of the tournament and also David Willey won't be coming now either, that means we lack some experience," Langer said when asked about LSG's pace attack.
LSG will travel to Jaipur this week ahead of their opening match of IPL 2024, against Rajasthan Royals in an afternoon game on Sunday.
The 2024 IPL season is scheduled to commence on Friday, 22nd March, with the defending champions Chennai Super Kings facing off against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
While all 10 teams are completing their final preparations ahead of the tournament, a plethora of injuries and other concerns have resulted in multiple players being ruled out of the 17th edition.
