Daredevils bring in Samuels as de Kock’s replacement

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Marlon Samuels
© Getty

Delhi Daredevils have signed West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels on Thursday (April 27) as Quinton de Kock’s replacement for the remainder of the Indian Premier League.

South African wicketkeeper-batsman de Kock was earlier ruled out of the tournament with an injury. Daredevils initially didn’t name anyone as his replacement even though they brought in Ben Hilfenhaus in place of JP Duminy, who pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons.

Samuels, who is a veteran of 149 matches in the Twenty20 format, has previously played in the IPL for the now defunct Pune Warriors. He played ten matches and scored only 132 runs for them without registering a single half-century. He also picked up nine wickets with the ball during his stint. He played the recent four-match T20I series against Pakistan but made only 91 runs. Prior to that, Samuels also represented Peshawar Zalmi last month in the Pakistan Super League.

Samuels has won the World T20 twice with West Indies and was named the player of the match in the final on both occasions. He had a base price of INR 100 lakhs during the IPL auction earlier this year and was unsold.

Daredevils face Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday (April 28) at the Eden Gardens in their next encounter.