Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, March 23: Moeen Ali is expected to miss the IPL 2022 opener for Chennai Super Kings, which will take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.
CSK retained the 34-year-old Ali for Rs 8 crore, but he has not joined the four-time champions for the 2017 IPL season. After failing to obtain the appropriate visa to fly to India for the IPL, the all-rounder is stranded in the United Kingdom.
According to an report, Moeen will need to arrive in Mumbai by Wednesday in order to play his team’s opening match against the 2021 runners-up Knight Riders.
Moeen will have to go through a mandatory three-day quarantine upon arriving in India in order to enter the IPL bio-secure environment. As a result, Super Kings’ management has realised that he has a slim chance of playing in the first match.
If the left-hander fails to make the cut, CSK might give Devon Conway, a New Zealand batter, his IPL debut in the top order, alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa.
However, Moeen Ali’s off-spin would have been useful against Knight Riders’ trio of left-handers: Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, and Sunil Narine, so the MS Dhoni-led side would certainly feel the sting in their opening encounter.
Meanwhile, another talented batter, Suryakumar Yadav, will be unavailable for Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2022 opener against Delhi Capitals on March 27.
The 31-year-old has yet to be freed from the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, where he has been in rehab for the past several weeks after suffering a hairline fracture on his thumb in the final match of the T20 series against West Indies on February 22.
Suryakumar’s departure would be felt by Mumbai, who have no other specialist Indian internationals in their batting order besides skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, the super auction’s most expensive purchase.
While Suryakumar is unavailable, Mumbai would most likely have to select Ramandeep Singh and Anmolpreet Singh, who are cousins. Tilak Varma, an uncapped Hyderabad batsman, is the favourite to play at No 3.
