England star Dawid Malan has withdrawn from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021's UAE leg. The batsman's franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) took to social media to announce the news. The franchise said that the 34-year-old will be taking some time off to be with his family ahead of the T20 World Cup and the Ashes. The Punjab franchise has also named South African cricketer Aiden Markram as a replacement for Malan.
Here is the tweet:
Malan, who was recalled to the Test team during the series against India after England promoted Haseeb Hameed to open in the 3rd Test in place of the dropped Dom Sibley, is the world's top-ranked Twenty20 batsman.
In T20I cricket, Malan has scored 1123 runs in 30 matches, with a high score of 103. He has registered a ton and 11 half-centuries.
He made his IPL debut this year, getting picked by PBKS. He played in only one match scoring 26 runs, before the season was postponed midway due to a rise in COVID-19 cases within the bio-secure bubble.
In Markram, PBKS have found a flamboyant batsman, who has played in 13 T20I matches, scoring 405 runs. The South African also has a high score of 70 in T20I cricket.
IPL 2021 resumes on September 19, with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai. PBKS restart their campaign on September 21, and will face Rajasthan Royals (RR).