DC vs MI: Delhi Capitals sign up Gulbadin Naib as Mitchell Marsh's replacement

Delhi Capitals, on Thursday (April 25), announced the replacement for their Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh for the remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024).

Marsh has been ruled out of the ongoing competition due to a hamstring injury. DC head coach Ricky Ponting confirmed the news earlier this week. Marsh suffered the injury while bowling during the game against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 3. A week after suffering the injury, he flew back to Australia to consult Cricket Australia's (CA) medical staff.

CA and DC agreed on Marsh spending some time in Australia to recover and further reassessment. In the end, CA decided that the Australia T20I captain was not fit to participate in IPL 2024.

"I don't think he'll be coming back. There's a certain cut off point with replacement players. Cricket Australia were keen to have him at home to start his recovery process and we sent him back as soon as we could.

"They've been managing his rehab for a couple of weeks now. I spoke to him the other day and it seems it's taken a little longer than he first thought to get over it. I don't think the T20 World Cup would be an issue," Ponting had said.

Marsh ended his campaign in IPL 2024 with just four games. In those four games, he scored 61 runs with a top score of 23. He also bowled eight overs and managed to pick up one wicket.

DC announce Mitchell Marsh's replacement:

DC, on Thursday, announced that Afghanistan allrounder Gulbadin Naib will replace Mitchell Marsh in their squad. The 32-year-old has been signed up for his reserve price of INR 50 lakhs. Gulbadin Naib has received an IPL contract for the first time in his career.

"Naib has represented Afghanistan in 82 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 65 T20 Internationals (T20Is) so far. A right-handed batter and a medium pacer, this will be his first stint in the Tata IPL. Naib signs in for his reserve price of INR 50 lakhs," stated a release from the IPL.

The Afghan powerhouse is now a part of DC 💙💪🏼

Here's welcoming @GbNaib who joins DC as a replacement for Mitch Marsh, who has been ruled out of #IPL2024. pic.twitter.com/1CwbCnuWKz

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 25, 2024

In 126 T20s so far, Gulbadin Naib has scored 1626 runs with the help of seven half-centuries in addition to picking up 70 wickets. His addition to the DC squad has further increased the number of Afghan players in the ongoing IPL season.

Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, and Azmatullah Omarzai are currently playing for Gujarat Titans while Mohammad Nabi is plying his trade for Mumbai Indians. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Allah Ghazanfar are playing for Kolkata Knight Riders while Naveen-ul-Haq is representing Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024.