In what comes as a major blow for the Chennai Super Kings, Mitchell Santer is set to miss the eleventh edition of the IPL as he will be undergoing a knee surgery which will keep him out of the game for 9 long months.
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The injury was detected during the ODI series against England, as Santner got his knee checked after feeling massive discomfort while bowling. The tests showed that Santner had a bone defect that needed to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
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The New Zealand team management are of course devastated, as Santner has been an important cog in New Zealand’s wheel across all formats.
On a personal level everyone feels for Mitchell,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said.
“He’s a popular guy in the changing room and he’s well respected for the work he puts in for the side.
“Mitchell is a key player in all three formats for us, so we’ll certainly miss him in the upcoming series.
“It’s important though that he gets this fixed and we have him back for what is a big next 18 months for us.”
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New Zealand selectors have now brought in Todd Astle as the replacement, who is a spin bowling all rounder too.
“Having another spin bowling all-rounder in Todd is of real benefit for us and he’ll be looking forward to his opportunity,” New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said.
“Being involved in the first day-night test in New Zealand is really exciting and there’s always something special about playing England.
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“They have match winners throughout their squad so we expect a challenging series” he added.
From an Indian perspective, the biggest loss will be suffered by CSK, who had very shrewdly brought in Santer for his base price(Santer is the 6th ranked bowler in ICC T20I Rankings).
CSK will announce a replacement soon enough.
