Recently, in a major blow to the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), young South African pacer Lungi Ngidi had been ruled out of the tournament due to a side strain. He sustained the injury during the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Speaking to reporters, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said, "For Lungi we've been a little bit more selective. It's obviously a different level of replacement player (required for him) based on price. We've gone with Scott Kuggeleijn, who's a New Zealand international, who bowls quick and bats well. So we've gone for an all-rounder who has good pace and good variations. He'll be joining us next week”.
Talking about England all-rounder David Willey, who pulled out owing to personal reasons, Fleming said he can't be replaced.
"We can't replace David Willey. David's got a personal issue at home that he's dealing with and we're supporting him and we'll continue to support him," he said.
"So contrary to some of the statements that have come out, we can't replace David Willey no matter what happens. It's just about us supporting him and his family as they go through some issues at home, and we support his decision to be at home."
Willey, who played three matches for the CSK in 2018, was quoted by Yorkshire County Cricket Club website as saying that "unfortunately due to some family reasons, I've had to pull out of the IPL".
Last year, Willey was called up as a late replacement for an injured Kedar Jadhav by CSK and had been retained by the defending champions.