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RCB rope in Blessing Muzarabani as Lungi Ngidi’s temporary replacement; fifth Zimbabwean in IPL

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RCB rope in Blessing Muzarabani as Lungi Ngidi’s temporary replacement; fifth Zimbabwean in IPL
RCB rope in Blessing Muzarabani as Lungi Ngidi’s temporary replacement; fifth Zimbabwean in IPL

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has acquired the services of Blessing Muzarabani, who joins them as a temporary replacement of Lungi Ngidi for their remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign. The signing comes after a national call-up for Ngidi, who will have to leave for home, South Africa, by May 26 to prepare for their World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord’s.

Uncapped in the IPL so far, Muzarabani has been signed for Rs. 75 lakhs. He has previously been a part of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as a net bowler in the 2022 season. The replacement will be effective only from May 26, which is a day before RCB’s final league stage fixture, against LSG in Lucknow. However, Ngidi will be available for RCB’s penultimate league fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which is in Bengaluru on May 23.

The franchise and the IPL announced the new signing on their social media handles on Monday. Standing tall at 6 feet 8 inches, the 28-year-old Zimbabwean speedster is now set to take the place of Josh Hazlewood and Ngidi, having represented Zimbabwe in 12 Tests, 55 ODIs and 70 T20Is. To talk of his T20 stats, he has bagged 127 wickets at an economy of 7.24 and best figures of 3/8.

In the recent Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe Test match in Sylhet, he bagged nine wickets and was named the Player of the Match. He is also in Zimbabwe’s squad for their four-day Test against England in Nottingham from May 22 to 25. He also boasts a favourable franchise cricket stint, being associated with Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Gulf Giants in the ILT20, and in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

Fifth Zimbabwean in IPL

Now that Muzarabani has been roped in by RCB, this makes him only the fifth cricketer from Zimbabwe to be picked in the IPL. The first ever player from the country in the IPL was Tatenda Taibu, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the inaugural 2008 season. Following him, Ray Price got to play in the cash-rich league for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2011.

Another notable player, Brendan Taylor, was selected by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2014, but he never got to play a game. Very recently, Sikandar Raza represented Punjab Kings (PBKS), where he featured in two games for them.

Zimbabwe players who have featured in IPL – 

  • Blessing Muzarabani
  • Sikandar Raza
  • Brendan Taylor
  • Ray Price
  • Tatenda Taibu

 A net bowler with LSG earlier, this is going to be Blessing Muzarabani’s first IPL stint, as he comes as a replacement in RCB for Lungi Ngidi, who will have to leave the setup by May 26 due to national commitments.  Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today

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