Uncapped New Zealander a like-for-like swap after the Australian makes himself unavailable for the entire 2021 season
The Royal Challengers Bangalore have signed uncapped New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Finn Allen as a like-for-like replacement for Josh Philippe who will miss the entire IPL 2021 for personal reasons.
Allen, who had initially found no takers in the auction last month, had listed his base price at INR 20 lakh – identical to that of Philippe who was snapped up by the Royal Challengers at the IPL 2020 auction. Like Philippe, Allen can open the batting and keep wickets if needed.
“The RCB management is disappointed to lose a player of Josh’s calibre for this IPL season, but at the same time we fully understand, respect and support his decision of excluding himself from the tournament,” the franchise said in a statement. “We had to select the next best option from the list of players registered for the IPL auction, at the same base price as Josh (20 lakh). We spent a…