West Indian run-machine Evin Lewis and tearaway pacer Oshane Thomas are the latest and final replacement signings for Rajasthan Royals for the remainder of IPL 2021 being played in UAE. The West Indian duo is set to replace Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, who are unavailable for the second half of the season.
Having made his T20I debut against Afghanistan in 2017, Lewis is an explosive left-handed batter and one of the few players to have two or more T20I centuries to his name. He has showcased his power-hitting across several T20 competitions, including the Caribbean Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League. Lewis’ ability to send the ball miles out of the park, as well as a couple of destructive innings against India in 2016 helped him bag an IPL contract, when he was picked up by Mumbai Indians in 2018. He scored his maiden IPL fifty against RCB and has 430 IPL runs in 16 games to his name, at a SR of 130+.
Returning for his second stint with the franchise, Oshane Thomas is currently in action in the CPL, with Barbados Royals. The six-foot six-inch Jamaican giant has picked up 5 wickets in 4 IPL appearances for us, and was part of the squad at IPL 2020 as well. The raw pace and bounce Thomas brings could potentially add something different to the bowling attack in UAE.
With the squad now complete and ready to assemble in UAE over the coming days, we can’t wait for the actual matches to begin, and to get that winning feeling back. Halla bol!
