IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians’ Jason Behrendorff set to miss the next edition

Jason Behrendorff, the Australian fast bowler, is all set to miss the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has ruled himself out of the entire 2019-20 season and it was confirmed on Tuesday, October 8. The same is owing to his ever-lasting back problem that has marred his career over the years. The left-arm fast bowler is set to fly to New Zealand to undergo spinal surgery.

It’s the same surgery that revived James Pattinson’s career. In the IPL, he was picked by the Mumbai Indians (MI), the four-time champions, back in 2018. But he couldn’t take part that season due to the back issue. Black Caps pacer Mitchell McClenaghan was called upon as his replacement. He was roped in at INR 1.50 crore. However, he came back to play the erstwhile edition of the league.

Behrendorff played only five matches in which he picked up as many wickets at an economy of 8.68. The auction for the next IPL is scheduled on December 19 in Kolkata, and the Mumbai-based franchise has to find his replacement. Last month, the 29-year-old had to miss the T20 Blast quarterfinals for Sussex due to the back injury and he was called back by Western Australia.

I’m feeling good about the surgery, says Behrendorff

As far as the surgery is concerned, he had a long chat with Pattinson over the rigours of the same. Pattinson recently was a part of the 2019 Ashes on English soil. Most importantly, Jason sounded positive about it. The southpaw is also hoping to return to red-ball cricket, a format he hasn’t played since 2017.

“I’m feeling good about the surgery, I’ve spoken to a number of Aussie and Kiwi bowlers who’ve had a similar surgery and they were all very positive about the results. This particular procedure has had good success rates in other professional pace bowlers with similar reoccurring issues,” Behrendorff was quoted as saying in an interview with cricket.com.au.

Behrendorff had the privilege of playing in the 2019 World Cup as well. The pacer went on to pick up a five-wicket haul against hosts England at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. Overall, he finished with nine wickets from five encounters.

Watch: 5 Cricketers who played for two countries