England and Rajasthan Royals batsman Liam Livingstone has flown back home due to bio-bubble fatigue in these unprecedented times.
The RR franchise confirmed the news in a social media post that read, “Liam Livingstone has flown back home late last night, due to bubble fatigue accumulated over the past year. We understand and respect his decision, and will continue supporting him in any way we can.”
Livingstone was bought by the RR franchise for a sum of Rs 75 lakh in the mini auctions held in Chennai earlier this year.
He has been a part of the Rajasthan franchise in the 2019 edition of the tournament but was then released ahead of the 2020 auctions. The right-handed batsman played only four games for the team and scored just 71 runs at an average of 23.66.
Livingstone has played a total of 128 T20 matches where he has struck over 3100 runs at an average of 27.48 and a strike-rate of over 140.
The right-hander was a part of the ODI squad that faced India and scored 27* and 36 and also picked up a wicket in the second match in Pune.
RR are slated to play their next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai on Thursday. The Sanju Samson-led side is presently sitting at number 6 spot with just one win and two losses in their kitty.
They suffered a defeat against CSK after failing to chase a target of 189 runs in 20 overs. The Royals were restricted to 143/9 in reply to CSK’s 188/9 and lost the match by a huge margin of 45 runs. Jos Buttler top-scored for RR with 49 off 35 while CSK’s new recruit Moeen Ali spun the web around the batsmen and rattled Rajasthan’s batting line up.
He scalped a three-wicket haul and returned with figures of 3/7 in 3 overs during the course. CSK are now scheduled to face KKR in Mumbai on Wednesday.