England’s limited-overs expert and RCB star, Reece Topley, talked about leaving the IPL 2023 earlier than expected because of his shoulder injury. The left-arm seamer knew he couldn’t continue playing in the tournament, so he concentrated on recovering and getting back to full fitness as soon as possible.
Topley, who was purchased for ₹1.9 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during the IPL 2023 auction, bowled just two overs in the match before hurting his shoulder while fielding. He managed to dismiss Cameron Green but couldn’t participate in the subsequent games due to the injury.
RCB player Reece Topley on his injury
The 29-year-old remembered that the moment he got injured, he was certain he would have to go back home.
“I knew I was going home. When I was sat in Bangalore with my humerus bone in front of my pec, I was just like, ‘wow, how quickly can I get home to have surgery?’ It wasn’t like I was going to hang around or whatever. It was just, like, let’s just get out of here,” he said.
The left-arm seamer experienced four stress fractures from 2016 to 2020. Nevertheless, a year ago, he achieved his best ODI performance, taking 6 wickets for 24 runs in 9.5 overs to greatly impress against India at Lord’s.
Topley has a goal of participating in the 2023 World Cup and plans to gradually reintegrate himself into international cricket by playing in the ODIs against Ireland and New Zealand.
“I’m really excited. There’s a lot of debate about 50-over cricket, but when there’s a World Cup on the horizon, there’s few other things that you can say you’re going to prioritise ahead of 50-over cricket. It’s a nice run-in with the Hundred, but those ODI series against Ireland and New Zealand will be about people trying to get in the XI for October,” he added.
