Reece Topley, a 6 feet 7 inches tall fast bowler from England, was expected to play a match-winning role for Islamabad United in the 2022 edition of the Pakistan Super League. However, according to media reports, the fast bowler has pulled out of the tournament. He has made himself unavailable before taking the flight to Pakistan and linking up with the squad.
In case you didn’t know, Reece Topley played for the Melbourne Renegades in the recently-concluded Big Bash League tournament. After that, he joined the England squad for the tour of West Indies. He has played three T20Is against West Indies and picked up a wicket each in all three matches.
Since Topley will be unavailable for PSL 2022, the Islamabad United team has named Waqas Maqsood as his replacement. A tweet from journalist Fatima Mohsin reads as follows:
“Reece Topley will be unavailable for the entire HBL Pakistan Super League 2022, Islamabad United has replaced him with Waqas Maqsood.”
Reece Topley will be unavailable for the entire HBL Pakistan Super League 2022,
Islamabad United has replaced him with Waqas Maqsood. #PSL7— Fatima Mohsin 🇵🇰 (@MahamOfficial_2) January 30, 2022
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Reece Topley is a veteran of T20 cricket as he has played 103 matches in his career so far, where he has picked up 131 wickets in 99 innings. Topley has an economy rate of 8.18, while his best figures are 4/20. Topley has made a name for himself with his wicket-taking abilities in the shortest format of the game, but he will not play in PSL 2022.
Who is Waqas Maqsood, the player who has replaced Reece Topley?
Islamabad United fans will be keen to know more about the new player of their squad – Waqas Maqsood. He is a 34-year-old left-arm fast-medium bowler. Maqsood has played for Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Galle Gladiators in franchise cricket. Overall, he has played 53 T20 matches, picking up 56 wickets for his team.
Maqsood played one T20I for the Pakistan cricket team in 2018 against the New Zealand cricket team, where he returned with figures of 2/21. The fast bowler will be keen to impress fans and selectors with his performance in the Pakistan Super League 2022 so that he could return to the international arena soon.
It will be exciting to see how Islamabad United performs in the absence of their star overseas fast bowler Reece Topley.
