IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals sign South African pacer Gerald Coetzee as replacement of Liam Livingstone

Recently, some of the cricketers have left the bio-bubble of IPL 2021 due to various reasons surrounding the COVID-19. However, Liam Livingstone of Rajasthan Royals left the IPL 2021 citing bubble fatigue as the reason. In the latest turn of events, the Royals have signed South African pacer Gerald Coetzee as his replacement for the remainder of the season. Royals would be expecting some change in their fortunes as they welcome the new pacer.

Talking about Coetzee’s career, he has been part of eight T20 matches so far and has nine wickets under his belt. He has scalped wickets at an average of 23.33 in the format and has also represented his nation in two U-19 World Cups. Chris Morris has been leading the pace attack of Royals so far and it will be a thing to see if Coetzee gets a chance in the XI to assist him.

Talking about the Royals’ journey in IPL 2021 so far, they are reeling at seventh position in the points table with only two wins in their six games. Their next game will be against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 2 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi.

Their last match was against the defending champions Mumbai Indians which they lost by seven wickets. They need to sort their middle-order woes before coming up in their next clash. Samson has displayed a fine form and has uplifted his team on various occasions. He played a subtle knock of 42 runs off 27 balls in their last game against MI but unfortunately, it resulted in a loss.

Sanju Samson after Royals’ last game of IPL 2021

“Surely, a few runs short, maybe around 20-25 runs short. We were going on nicely (with the bat) but didn’t finish well. The bowlers have been doing their job well, but as batsmen, we need to get them a good score to defend. It was a good wicket, the ball was coming on nicely and they (MI) batted really well, as a team, we will need to score more runs as a batting group. Trust yourself, play positive and fearless cricket – that’s all one should do,” said Samson after the match.