David Willey will miss the start of IPL 2024 due to personal reasons. He was due to play for Lucknow Super Giants in the tournament. The English left-arm seamer played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last two IPL seasons and was signed by LSG at his base price of INR 2 crore (£190,000 approx) in December's auction in Dubai.
LSG's new head coach, Justin Langer, announced on Wednesday that Willey would not be available at the start of the season. Willey has spent the last two months representing Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Multan Sultans in the ILT20 and the PSL.
Willey has not been replaced in the squad and could still be in contention for a trip to India during the tournament. However, he has been away from home for much of the English winter, having played in the World Cup in India, and returned to the UK after playing in the PSL final on Monday.
Willey is the second England player to be unavailable for the start of the LSG season after Mark Wood was ruled out of the entire campaign by the ECB to manage his workload ahead of the T20 World Cup. Wood's replacement has been West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph, but Willey has yet to be named.
LSG will travel to Jaipur this week for the opening match of IPL 2024. They will take on Rajasthan Royals on Sunday afternoon.