"It was probably expected that Mark Wood won't be available for the entire season" - Aakash Chopra on LSG signing Shamar Joseph for IPL 2024

Aakash Chopra reckons Mark Wood's potential unavailability for the entire season might have forced the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to sign Shamar Joseph for IPL 2024.

Wood, who was originally bought for ₹7.50 crore, was one of the players retained by LSG ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. However, they recently replaced him with Joseph, who was acquired for ₹3.00 crore.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the Lucknow Super Giants might have named Joseph as an early replacement for Wood keeping their title ambitions in mind. He said (6:55):

"The Lucknow Super Giants have signed Shamar Joseph. The Lucknow franchise needs to move forward as they reached the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. Eventually, you want to finish on the podium and maybe with the trophy in hand. So for that, they have now kept Joseph."

"It was probably expected that Mark Wood won't be available for the entire season. However, before that itself, they decided - Mark Wood bye-bye, Shamar Joseph hi-hi. So Joseph has become a part of this team," the former India opener added.

Joseph starred for the West Indies in their recent Brisbane Test win against Australia. The right-arm seamer registered figures of 7/68 in the second innings with an injured foot as the Windies completed an eight-run win to draw the two-match series.

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"It is the story of a woodcutter" - Aakash Chopra on Shamar Joseph

Shamar Joseph picked up 13 wickets in the two Tests against Australia. [P/C: Getty]

Aakash Chopra lauded Shamar Joseph for attaining lofty heights from a humble beginning. He observed:

"It is the story of a woodcutter. His entire village works as carpenters. So his story started from there and where it's reached - it's beautiful. So Shamar Joseph will be playing in the Indian Premier League. He has got a very good contract, it's exciting."

The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that LSG's sister franchise, the Durban Super Giants, had a great run in the recently concluded edition of the SA20 league before losing in the final.

"By the way, their Durban Super Giants also played very well throughout the SA20. They were close to the top of the table but lost the final. They just did not turn up in the final. However, their journey till the final was very good," Chopra said.

Chopra praised the SunRisers Eastern Cape for successfully defending their SA20 title. He stated:

"SunRisers Eastern Cape, on the other side, two trophies in two years. They played extremely well. They have started creating an early dominance. Durban Super Giants were extremely ordinary last year but have played very well this year."

The SunRisers Eastern Cape thrashed the Durban Super Giants by 89 runs in the 2024 SA20 final in Cape Town on Saturday, February 10. They posted a mammoth 204/3 after opting to bat first and bundled Keshav Maharaj and company out for 115 to complete an emphatic win.