Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings are actively looking for a replacement of Josh Hazlewood for IPL 2021. It was reported that the franchise had approached to Australian pacer Billy Stanlake and English quick Reece Topley who had turned down the offer. However, former Ireland cricketer Niall O Brien has claimed that the news of Topley refusing an IPL offer is untrue.
Meanwhile, Hazlewood Hazlewood has pulled out of IPL 2021 to give himself “the best chance to be mentally and physically ready” as Australia gear up for a power-packed schedule in the next 12 months. Josh Hazlewood has been a part of different bio-secure bubbles from August 2020 to January this year and has decided to rest and spend some time with the family.
In the wake of this, Chennai Super Kings have been actively looking for a replacement. Earlier today, TOI claimed that Billy Stanlake and Reece Topley had turned down Chennai Super Kings offer due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in India. India is experiencing the second wave of the pandemic currently with almost 90,000 new cases being registered in the last 24 hours. Moreover, Axar Patel and Devdutt Padikkal have been tested positive for the virus while Nitish Rana has just recovered.
Reece Topley is eager to play in IPL – Niall O Brien
However, cricketer-turned-commentator Naill O Brian has claimed that this news is completely untrue. He claimed the left-arm seamer from England was always willing to play in the IPL, the biggest T20 tournament and he can never reject the offer. He also mentioned that he can’t confirm the same about Billy Stanlake but Niall O’Brien was confident about Reece Topley not rejecting the IPL offer.
“Good morning , I can’t speak for B.S but I can confirm that information is 100% incorrect in Reece Case. RT was hoping to play IPL,” Niall O Brien said in a tweet.
Good morning , I can’t speak for B.S but I can confirm that information is 100% incorrect in Reece Case. RT was hoping to play IPL 👍 https://t.co/XceYNEkRFF
— Niall John O Brien (@niallnobiobrien) April 4, 2021
Meanwhile, Reece Topley was recently a part of the England squad that toured India. He picked three wickets in the last two ODIs of the series and fared well in high-scoring contests. Overall, the left-arm pacer has played 13 ODIs and 6 T20Is for England picking 20 and 5 wickets respectively.
