West Indian cricketers Oshane Thomas and Evin Lewis have been recruited by the Rajasthan Royals for the remainder of the 2021 Indian Premier League.
Thomas and Lewis will effectively replace England stars Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, who will not travel to the United Arab Emirates for the resumption of the tournament.
Lewis and Thomas are currently playing for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Barbados Royals, respectively, in the Caribbean Premier League.
Lewis has previously represented the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. This will be Thomas' second stint with Rajasthan.
Rajasthan have also signed New Zealand batsman Glenn Phillips and South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who is currently the International Cricket Council's number one-ranked T20I bowler.
“I am not going to sit here and pretend that I'm not excited about the IPL. I am very excited. Especially because I've never played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” said Shamsi, who has previously played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in India.
“The IPL is a different thing. I have played in the past, but I was a lot younger and I didn't get a lot of game time regularly. When you get regular game time, you can showcase what you can do. You can improve.
“I'm really happy I got picked up in the IPL because I've never been there and played there. It will be nice if I can play on those pitches and get some inside information and gain some experience.”
RCB Make Changes As Well
Bangalore, meanwhile, have recruited Sri Lankan duo Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, Singapore batsman Tim David and England seamer George Garton. This will be the quartet's first time in the IPL.
“Some significant changes in our playing squad, from an overseas perspective, due to player unavailability and, indeed, a reshaping of our overseas contingent,” said RCB director of cricket Mike Hesson.
“Finn Allen and Scott Kuggeleijn have been selected for New Zealand tours, and they won't be part of RCB. Kane Richardson has made himself unavailable, as has Daniel Sams, so the balance of our squad has changed dramatically.”
Mumbai are the reigning IPL champions.
