Will Jacks of England has been ruled out of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) owing to injury. Jacks was purchased by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for INR 3.2 crore in the IPL Player Auction in December last year.
Jacks suffered a muscular injury while fielding in the second One-Day International against Bangladesh at Mirpur. After scans and a session with a doctor earlier this week, the youthful all-rounder was forced to withdraw from IPL 2023. That might be a huge setback for the cricketer, who had planned to compete in the competition to familiarise himself with Indian conditions and gain a spot in England’s team for the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will be held in India later this year.
According to reports, RCB has been in talks with New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell about replacing Jacks. Bracewell went unsold at the December auction, despite having a starting bid of INR 1 crore. Importantly, he had no prior experience playing in the Indian T20 competition.
In addition to Jacks, RCB signed teammate Reece Topley during the auction. Topley sat out the white-ball trip to Bangladesh owing to a slight discomfort. He is, however, anticipated to be ready for the start of the season. During the trip, Jacks made his ODI debut for England and played the first two ODIs before sustaining an injury. Importantly, Jos Butler-led England win the ODI series by 2-1.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore will kick off their IPL 2023 campaign against Mumbai Indians on April 2 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The 16th season of the IPL will commence on March 31, with the first match between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
