RCB CALL ON PRETORIA CAPITALS’ CAPTAIN

Pretoria Capitals captain Wayne Parnell is set to make his comeback to the Indian Premier League after a nine-year absence when he joins the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Parnell, 33, last played in the IPL in 2014. He was part of the now defunct Pune Warriors side from 2011.

However, the left-arm seamer was originally signed by the Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) back in 2010 as a then 19-year-old for $610,000 after an impressive 2009 T20 World Cup in England for the Proteas’ Men’s team where he finished among the leading wicket-takers. 

During the intervening years Parnell has gained plenty of short-format experience by playing in the Pakistan Super League, Caribbean Premier League, England’s T20 Vitality Blast and The Hundred, Canadian Premier League, Abu Dhabi T10.

All of this global experience was on full display in the Betway SA20 earlier this year where he led the Pretoria Capitals all the way to the inaugural final at the Wanderers, where his team finished runners-up to the Sunrisers Eastern Cape. 

Parnell has also made a successful return to international cricket over the past 12 months with the Proteas’ Men’s team and is now an integral part of both white-ball squads. 

He will be reunited with his former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis after the pair also played together last year in The Hundred for the Northern Superchargers. Parnell has also since been retained by the SuperChargers for this season’s competition in the United Kingdom.

Parnell’s late call-up to the IPL is due to Durban’s Super Giants seamer Reece Topley having dislocated his shoulder during a nasty fall during RCB’s opening game.

“Reece, unfortunately, had to go back home because he has been ruled out of the tournament,” Sanjay Bangar, Royal Challengers’ head coach, said.  

“We tried our best to keep him here, but the treatment and the experts suggest that he is going to be out of action for some time.”

Parnell will face competition from another Durban’ Super Giants all-rounder David Willey to break into the RCB starting XI, while Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood will arrive in India on April 14 after recovering from an Achilles injury.