Shamar Joseph joins Lucknow 

West Indies speedster Shamar Joseph has joined Lucknow as a replacement of England pacer Mark Wood. He has joined Lucknow for INR 3 crore, as per an Ind T20 League statement. 

It is understood that the ECB pulled the English quick, a centrally contracted player, out of Ind T20 League 2024 to manage his workload, with the T20 World Cup slated in June this year and England playing Tests against West Indies and Sri Lanka at home in the summer. Recently, the ECB had stopped Jofra Archer from competing in the Indian T20 League as it manages his comeback from injury preparing for the T20 World Cup. 

Lucknow had signed Wood in the auction prior to the 2022 season for INR 7.50 crore. He, however, was unavailable for the season due to an injury. In the very next season, Wood played four fixtures and claimed 11 wickets at an average of 11.82. 

Joseph earlier this year made his West Indies debut in the drawn series against Australia, taking the key wicket of Steve Smith with his first ball in Test cricket, in a game where the visitors lost in Adelaide. He then became a global sensation when he took a seven-fer in the final innings despite an injured foot to give West Indies a historic eight-run win at Gabba in the final test. It was West Indies' first test win in Australia since 1997. 

Joseph had been bought by Dubai Capitals (DC) for the ongoing edition of the International T20 League prior to the West Indies’ tour of Australia, but was later ruled out due to a toe injury he sustained in the Brisbane Test when a Mitchell Starc yorker hit him. But his impressive show down under earned him a deal with Peshawar in the Pak T20 League, which begins on February 17. 

While Joseph has played only two matches in T20 cricket during his professional career, and is yet wicketless, West Indies white ball coach Darren Sammy has hinted that Joseph could find a spot in the upcoming T20 World Cup squad, stating the quick has “created a good headache” for the selectors. 

Besides Joseph, the Lucknow fast bowling line-up comprises Naveen-Ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan, Shivam Mavi, David Willey, Yudhvir Singh and Yash Thakur. They possess quality all rounders in the form of Marcus Stoinis and Kyle Mayers. Then, they have India’s Under-19 World Cup star Arshin Kulkarni, who could give them quite a few good overs. Though only two seasons old in the competition, Lucknow have been one of the consistent teams, making the playoffs and finishing third both in 2022 and 2023 seasons.