3 reasons why LSG signing Matt Henry for IPL 2024 is the right move

On Saturday (March 30), the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) announced that New Zealand pacer Matt Henry will replace David Willey for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Henry went unsold during the IPL 2024 auction, but now joins the team for his base price of INR 1.25 crore.

Willey had earlier pulled out of the initial games of the tournament due to personal reasons. However, he has now withdrawn from the entire season. Willey was bought by the Super Giants at his base price of INR 2 crore in the IPL 2024 auction.

In the last few months, the left-arm pacer has been on the road, playing in tournaments like the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and International League T20 (ILT20).

At this stage, LSG have three overseas pace-bowling options: Naveen-ul-Haq, Shamar Joseph, and Matt Henry. The KL Rahul-led side have played with Naveen in both games.

On that note, let's check out why the signing of Henry is a positive sign for the Lucknow-based outfit.

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1) Matt Henry is an all-format bowler

Over the years, Matt Henry has gained sufficient international experience across all formats. Since making his debut in 2014, Henry has played 17 T20Is, 25 Tests, and 82 ODIs. In total, he has scalped a total of 256 wickets.

Along with taking wickets, the veteran pacer has shown terrific adaptability to perform in all three formats. He has shown the ability to swing the ball both ways in the red-ball format, and usually uses bouncers and slower deliveries in the limited-overs format.

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2) Track record in T20s

Henry has featured in 131 T20s to date, and picked up a total of 151 wickets at an economy of 8.39.

In April 2023, the 32-year-old registered a hat-trick against Pakistan, taking wickets of Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Shaheen Afridi. With this performance, Henry cemented his place in the New Zealand T20I setup.

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3) Current form

The right-arm pacer will come into the cash-rich league on the back of some scintallating form. He returned with figures of 5/70, 3/36, 2/94, 7/67 in two Test matches against Australia. With 17 scalps, Henry was the leading wicket-taker in the series.

With the bat, Henry accumulated over 100 runs in four innings, and could be a handy No. 8 for the LSG team. Furthermore, he could be a better option than Naveen-ul-Haq, who conceded more than 40 runs in each of the two games and took a total of two wickets.

In the 2023 World Cup played in India, Matt Henry finished as the third-highest wicket-taker for the Blackcaps with 11 scalps in seven games, while registering best figures of 3/40 against the Netherlands. This performance certainly give account of his ability to pick wickets in subcontinent conditions.