Multan Sultans have been dealt a dual blow, with injuries to fast bowlers Reece Topley and Ihsanullah ruling them out of the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League. While Ihsanullah has a long-standing elbow injury and his unavailability was expected, Topley's absence was announced on Sunday by Sultans owner Ali Tareen.
"[Topley] hasn't received his NOC [no-objection certificate from England] and is out of the PSL," Tareen tweeted.
Topley hasn't played in the PSL before, but had a full T20 workload through the winter, playing 12 games in the SA20 with Durban Super Giants, finishing ninth on the tournament wickets chart. He is also scheduled to play the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
ESPNcricinfo understands his injury is not serious enough to imperil his participation in the IPL, and pulling him out of the PSL was a decision taken out of an abundance of caution with a T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean in June.
It is understood Sultans wanted to replace Topley with South African quick Nandre Burger - who also had a stellar season in the SA20 - but was told by Cricket South Africa he wouldn't be granted an NOC. They are believed to be considering Olly Stone, who played in the SA20 and the ILT20 recently, as well as Sri Lankan seamer Dushmantha Chameera. Chameera, however, injured his left quadriceps on Sunday and will be missing the rest of the white-ball series against Afghanistan. The extent of his injury is currently unknown.
The PSL starts on Sunday, February 17. The Sultans have reached the final in each of the last two seasons, falling short at the hands of Lahore Qalandars each time.