Devon Conway injured his thumb during the T20I series against Australia
Chennai Super Kings suffered a major injury blow three weeks before the start of their title defence as opener Devon Conway has been ruled out of action until May. Conway, who was the player of the match in Chennai’s win against Gujarat Titans in the 2023 final, will be sidelined for almost eight weeks after it was revealed that he underwent surgery on his left thumb last week.
Chennai Super Kings opener Devon Conway (IPL Twitter)
Conway injured his thumb during the T20I series against Australia and hence skipped the ongoing Test series. The decision to have surgery was taken following a medical consultation. The recovery period is estimated to be around eight weeks, which implies that the left-handed opener won’t be available for more than half of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which will kick off on March 22 with CSK taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
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Conway made his IPL debut in 2022 after CSK roped in the New Zealand star for his base price of INR 1 crore at the Mega Auction. In 23 appearances for the franchise, he scored 924 runs at 48.63 with nine fifties. His best performance came last season, when he amassed 672 runs in 16 matches, laced with six fifties.
With Conway slated to be absent, CSK could try out fellow New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra, who was roped in for INR 1.8 crore at the auction last December following his stellar show at the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup in India.
Ravindra too had suffered an injury scare during the T20I contest against Australia as he was benched for the second match following a knee pain. However, he had recovered in time to make an appearance for New Zealand in the first Test against the Aussies, where he had scored a fifty in the second innings in Wellington.
Last month, IPL announced the schedule for only the first 21 games of the 2024 season. The remainder of the schedule will be released after the announcement of the Indian general election dates. CSK will play four matches during this period – against RCB, Gujarat Titans, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively. Their opening two matches will be played at home, and the other two are away games.
