The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise have roped in Australian pacer Jason Behrendorff as Josh Hazlewood's replacement for the 2021 season. Hazlewood had withdrawn from the tournament earlier this month to spend time at home for the next two months.
The news of the left-arm quick joining the CSK side has come from the official website of the Indian Premier League (IPL) who confirmed the development.
Behrendorff has featured in 11 ODIs and seven T20Is and this will be his second IPL team, having represented Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2019. As for Hazlewood, he was to depart with other Australia's IPL-bound players but decided to skip the cash-rich league.
"It's been a long 10 months in bubbles and quarantine at different times, so I decided to have a rest from cricket and spend some time at home and in Australia in the next two months," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
"We've got a big winter ahead. The West Indies is going to be a long tour, with Bangladesh (T20 tour) potentially thrown at the end of that. Then potentially the T20 World Cup leading into the Ashes, so it's a big 12 months.
"As it always is with Australia, and I want to give myself the best chance to be mentally and physically ready for that," he had said.
As for the clash, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will face the previous year's finalists Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 10 in Mumbai.
