Rajasthan Royals have signed 20-year-old fast bowler Gerald Coetzee as the replacement player for Liam Livingstone. The South African has featured in a couple of Under-19 World Cups and has played a handful of domestic games across all formats for the Knights.
Coetzee is a promising young fast bowler who has played a handful of domestic matches in South Africa and has also featured in a couple of Under-19 World Cups. The 20-year-old pacer has played eight T20s so far and has taken nine wickets at an economy rate of 7.68. In List ‘A’ cricket, he has picked up 10 wickets from six games which have come at an economy rate of 4.91.
It hasn’t been an easy season for RR so far. They were left with just four overseas players after the first few games, and each of them featured in the XI in the last few games. They have had injury issues with key players, and a couple of them returned home due to personal reasons.
Jofra Archer didn’t land in India as he was recovering from a hand injury and was expected to be available for the last few games. However, he has been ruled out due to the injury and also quarantine concerns in India and back in the UK. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes injured his finger and suffered a fractured in RR’s opening match of the 2021 season, which subsequently ruled him out of the entire tournament. Andrew Tye flew back to Australia as he had anxiety issues after looking at the worsening COVID-19 situation in India.
According to ESPNCricinfo, Rassie van der Dussen who is currently undergoing his mandatory seven-day quarantine hasn’t been granted a NOC from Cricket South Africa. He was supposed to be the replacement for Stokes. However, the South African cricket board cited van der Dussen’s injury as the reason for the denial of the NOC.
