IPL 2022 | Lucknow Super Giants announce Andrew Tye as Mark Wood's replacement

Newly formed Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have named Australian seamer Andrew Tye as a replacement for injured English pacer Mark Wood for the upcoming season.

Wood, who was picked by the KL Rahul-led franchise at a sum of INR 7.5 Crore in the mega-auction, was ruled out of the 15th season earlier this month due to an elbow injury, he suffered during the ongoing Test series in the Caribbean.

Ever since the news of Wood getting ruled out broke, speculations were rife that Lucknow are looking to rope in Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani.

As it turned out, Muzarabani has been picked by Lucknow but not only in the capacity of a net bowler.

On Wednesday, the franchise announced that it will be Tye, who will replace the injured Wood.

A statement released by the IPL read:

"Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have signed Andrew Tye as a replacement for the injured England pacer Mark Wood for the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Wood suffered an elbow injury during England's first Test against West Indies earlier this month,"

Tye, of course, is no stranger to the mad world of the Indian Premier League. The Australian limited-overs seamer has previously plied his trade for franchises like the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and the now defunct Gujarat Lions.

Tye made his IPL debut in 2017 where he picked 12 wickets in 6 games at 11.75/6.71 but it was his exploits in the following season for Punjab that garnered attention of everyone.

In the 2018 season, Tye claimed 24 wickets in 14 games at an average of 18.66 and an economy rate of 6.71. He eventually finished as the top wicket-taker to win the coveted Purple Cap.

One of Tye's biggest weapons was his knuckleball and once batsmen started picking him, he struggled. In the next two seasons, he managed just 3 & 1 wickets respectively.

The right-hander went unsold (base price of Rs 1 Crore) in the recent mega-auction. However, he is coming off a brilliant BBL campaign where he claimed 25 wickets in 16 games.

Lucknow will open their IPL 2022 campaign against fellow debutants, Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium on March 28.