Chennai Super Kings left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary has been sidelined from the entire IPL 2023 with a stress fracture of the back. Nagaland left-arm seamer Akash Singh, who has played for Rajasthan Royals in the past, has been signed as a like-for-like replacement.
Choudhary's injury is the latest blow to the Super Kings attack that is already without New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson, who has also been ruled out of the entire season with a back injury. Super Kings will also be without the Sri Lankan pair of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana, who will link up with the franchise only after the end of Sri Lanka's six-match white-ball series in New Zealand on April 8.
Choudhary was one of the finds of the last IPL season, emerging as the team's joint-highest wicket-taker, with 16 strikes in 13 games at an economy rate of 9.31. Eleven of those wickets came in the powerplay, the joint-most by any bowler during this phase in the tournament.
Akash, who was unsold at the auction, will join Super Kings at his base price of INR 20 lakh. In all, he has played nine T20s so far, picking up seven wickets at an economy rate of 7.87. He made his T20 debut for Rajasthan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2019 before helping India Under-19s to a runners-up finish in the 2020 World Cup in South Africa. He had moved from Rajasthan to Nagaland ahead of the 2022-23 domestic season.