The Gujarat Lions opener Brendon McCullum has been ruled out of the remainder of the Indian premier League (IPL) due to a hamstring injury. The former New Zealand skipper suffered the injury during the last game against Delhi Daredevils, which Gujarat side lost by a margin of seven wickets, despite putting a huge total of 208 on the board.
McCullum being ruled out of the league have put the side in deep trouble as they now have only four overseas players in their team namely Dwayne Smith, Chirag Suri, Aaron Finch and James Faulkner as Jason Roy has left for England to participate in ODI series against Ireland whereas Andrew Tye was ruled out recently due to a dislocated shoulder. The franchise has to announce the replacement for McCullum in form of a foreign player as Roy will not return back to take part in IPL. The England opener will play county cricket instead, to prepare for the Champions Trophy.
Despite the Gujarat side not performing well, McCullum has been a key performer for the team as he scored 319 runs in 11 games but now with him being ruled out, we might see Ishan Kishan coming back to open the innings along with Dwayne Smith, who has not been in best of the form for the team.
At present, Gujarat Lions sit at seventh place on the points table with just three wins and eight losses and is currently the second team till now to be ruled out of the league, after Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Gujarat-based franchise will take on Kings XI Punjab in their next contest in Mohali on May 7.