West Indies fast bowling sensation Shamar Joseph made his IPL debut today (April 14) for the Lucknow Super Giants in their fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.

Joseph has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past 18 months. He only made his professional debut in February 2023 in a first-class match between Guyana and Barbados. Not long after, Joseph made his Caribbean Premier League debut and after just three first-class appearances, he was fast-tracked into the West Indies ‘A’ set-up for their series against South Africa’s second string side late in 2023.

Joseph was then picked for West Indies’ Test tour of Australia in early 2024 to cover for the absence of regular seamers like Jason Holder and Jayden Seales. Joseph enjoyed a phenomenal debut series, taking a five-for on debut at Adelaide before taking 7-68 in the second innings at the Gabba as West Indies completed a famous victory, their first in Australia since 1997.

The 24-year-old speedster was picked by Lucknow in March after England quick Mark Wood pulled out of the 2024 competition.

Lucknow have made a decent start to their campaign, picking up three wins from their first five matches. The winner of the LSG-KKR contest will move into second place in the points table. Joseph comes into the Lucknow side in place of Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, who’d taken six wickets from five games and conceded his runs at 9.10 runs per over.

Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and have opted to field against LSG.

Shamar Joseph is making his IPL debut for Lucknow.#KKRvsLSG #IPL2024 #Cricket #ShamarJoseph #ShreyasIyer pic.twitter.com/Ix7drUfWIC

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) April 14, 2024

Lucknow’s Mayank Yadav, who created headlines with his raw speed in his first two appearances of the season, missed out on selection due to injury.

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