Mumbai, Apr 6 (IANS): 2008 IPL champions Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday announced that Australian all-rounder Nathan Coulter-Nile will miss the remainder of IPL 2022 due to an injury.
Coulter-Nile featured for Rajasthan in their opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, conceding 48 off his three overs and couldn't complete his four overs as he had to go off the field due to injury.
The franchise updated on Coulter-Nile's future in the tournament via a video posted on their social media channels where the team physiotherapist John Gloster addressed the team.
"I had the pleasure of introducing Nathan, when he first came into the bubble and into our family. Unfortunately, I have got the hard task of wishing him farewell. It's always hard to lose someone, particularly when it's through injury", said Gloster in the video.
Though Rajasthan convincingly won their opening match by 61 runs, Coulter-Nile missed out on the next two matches with India pacer Navdeep Saini replacing him in the playing eleven. At the current moment, the nature of Coulter-Nile's injury has not been revealed yet and his replacement is yet to be known.
"And you know, we were really looking forward to spend a lot of time with you throughout this tournament. But unfortunately that's not going to be. He's leaving us tomorrow morning. But, you know you're a big part of us. What you've given already has been massive to us," added Gloster.
Coulter-Nile was bought by Rajasthan for Rs. 2 crores in the mega auction. "Having you around the group, given we have learned a lot from you as well. So travel safely and anything you need from us, we are always here. We look forward to having you back with us whenever that might be, safe travels", concluded Gloster.
Following his speech, Coulter-Nile received hugs from Gloster and other teammates in the Rajasthan camp.
After playing three matches in IPL 2022, Rajasthan are currently seated at the top of the points table with four points, coming from consecutive games against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.
But they had to face their first loss of the tournament when Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated them by four wickets on Tuesday. Their next match will now be against Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday at Wankhede Stadium.