RCB pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile ruled out of 2018 IPL; replacement named

Ahead of the 2018 IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore have suffered a huge blow as their fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.

The IPL Technical Committee has approved New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, who went unsold in the 2018 IPL auction, as a replacement for the injured Aussie pacer for his base price of INR 2 crore.

"In accordance with the Player Regulations, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were allowed to choose a replacement from the Registered and Available Player Pool (RAPP). The Royal Challengers Bangalore subsequently picked New Zealand’s Corey Anderson for his base price of INR 2 Cr," said an IPL press release.

Last year, Coulter-Nile was sidelined with an "aggravation" of a previous stress fracture on his lower back that curtailed his Ashes dreams. This also ruled him out of the 2017-18 Big Bash League and the limited-overs series against England and New Zealand.

He is yet to recover from it and it was said that he would be forced to the sidelines for at least nine months. However, in spite of that, he was bought in the IPL auction by RCB for INR 2.2 crore after they managed to outbid Kings XI Punjab.

Coulter-Nile, who is very underrated as a T20 bowler, was expected to spearhead the bowling attack for the Virat Kohli-led side. In his absence, all hopes will fall on the shoulders of England all-rounder Chris Woakes, who is likely to play a key role for the Bangalore-based franchise as an all-rounder.

Coming in as a replacement, Anderson is set to play for his third IPL franchise after featuring for Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils in previous seasons.

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