4 Players Gujarat Lions can replace the injured Andrew Tye with

Gujarat Lions haven’t enjoyed a great season both on and off the field. Their star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo couldn’t participate in the initial phase of the tournament and was later ruled out of the IPL, failing to recover from a hamstring. After been battered in the first two games, they included Andrew Tye for the first time in their third game against RPS at Rajkot. The Australian responded by picking a hat-trick and went on to claim career-best figures of 5/17 in his IPL debut.

On the back of an outstanding debut by Tye, Gujarat Lions registered their maiden win in IPL 2017. Tye gave their bowling a better look with his crafty bowling in the middle and end overs. However, unfortunately, Tye will not take further part in this year’s IPL as he dislocated his left shoulder while fielding in their Saturday’s clash with Mumbai Indians.

This is a severe jolt to the already struggling GL. Tye was the only bowler who was able to bowl his four overs with ease. With him gone, the Raina-led Lions will have to figure out a suitable replacement for him as early as possible. Here are the five possible replacements which Gujarat can ponder upon:

1. Dawlat Zadran

This Afghani fast bowler can join his teammates: Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, who are already playing in IPL 2017, to become another player of Afghani origin to take part in the IPL. The 29-year-old is capable of cranking it up and is a wicket taking bowler.

A strike rate of almost 170 in his T20 career shows that he can be handy with the willow at the back end of an innings as well. Zadran has 59 wickets from 44 T20 games which truly shows his wicket-taking ability, which is worth its weight in gold in the shortest format.

2. Kyle Abbott

The South African was in the news early this year when he signed a Kolpak deal with Hampshire and ended his international career at the age of 29. The bowling all-rounder has a good record in the shortest format and has the experience of 21 international T20s.

Abbott has been associated with two franchises: Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab in the past but didn’t win a contract with Punjab for this year. He appeared in 5 games last year but could only pick 2 wickets and had an alarming economy rate of 11.06. Abbott will have to improve on these numbers, which he should if he is summoned by Gujarat Lions.

3. Thisara Perera

Aged 28, Perera has already been a part of as many as six franchises in the IPL, yet he failed to get any buyers at the IPL auctions in February this year. Perera has just appeared in 37 games in the six seasons he has participated with the various franchises in the IPL. The Sri Lankan has loads of experience in this format and has played in 201 games in his T20 career picking 178 wickets.

He is very useful with the bat and has scored 2229 runs at a strike rate of 140. Gujarat Lions can use his experience and skills to get out of the rut they are in at the moment. The only concern with Perera is his economy rate which is a steep 8.41.

4. Sean Abbott

Sean Abbott played 2 games for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2015 but did nothing to write home about as he went for 57 runs in his 5 overs. 2 years down the line, Abbott is a much-improved bowler and had a decent run in the Big Bash League where he turns up for the Sydney Sixers.

He bowls good lines and gets lateral movement off the pitch, making him a good option for Indian conditions. Pace is the only way to go about in Indian conditions and Abbott has that in abundance.