IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals have signed up West Indian players Evin Lewis and Oshane Thomas as replacements for the UAE leg of IPL 2021. While Lewis replaces Jos Buttler, Thomas replaces Ben Stokes. Both the English players are missing the UAE leg due to different reasons. Meanwhile, both Thomas and Lewis are currently playing the CPL in the Caribbean.
Lweis is a part of St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL while Thomas is playing for Barbados Tridents in the ongoing season.
Both have had IPL stints in the past. Lewis played for Mumbai Indians in 2018 and 2019 season, while Thomas played for the Royals in the 2019 season.
The Rajasthan Royals Twitter handle updated about the new recruitments through a post.
OFFICIAL: Evin Lewis is a Royal. 💥
Thanks bro @CricCrazyJohns 😂👌#RoyalsFamily https://t.co/zA7UlcZM6w pic.twitter.com/u9MZMZLfRa
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 31, 2021
Lewis, left-handed opening batter from Trinidad and Tobago had made his debut for West Indies during its 2016 World T20 campaign in India, and has 1318 runs to his name in 45 T20Is, at a strike rate of 158. The flamboyant batter has also scored 1847 runs for West Indies in 57 ODIs. He scored 430 runs in 16 matches across the two seasons for Mumbai.
OT in the chat. 😉
Welcome back to the #RoyalsFamily, Oshane 🔥 pic.twitter.com/V9nQqRfJxf
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 31, 2021
Thomas, on the other hand, has picked up 27 wickets in 20 ODIs, and 19 wickets in 17 T20Is. He also won the West Indies’ Emerging Player of the Year Award in 2019.
Rajasthan Royals Start UAE Leg on September 21
Wake me up when September begins. 😍#IPL2021 | #HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | #IPLFixtures pic.twitter.com/2CrGOCNtGO
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) July 25, 2021
The Royals start their IPL campaign against Punjab Kings on September 21. They play their last league game against KKR on October 7.
Rajasthan had earlier signed Glenn Phillips and Tabraiz Shamsi as replacements and the signing of these two players complete their squad.
The absence of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer has already been a big loss and they will continue to miss them in the remainder of the season.
Meanwhile, the IPL 2021 UAE leg starts on September 19 with Chennai Super Kings taking on the Mumbai Indians in the first match. KKR and RCB play the next game. In all, 13 matches will be held in Dubai, 10 in Sharjah, and 8 in Abu Dhabi.
Also Read: BCCI Releases Tenders For Two New IPL Teams
