The 17th season of the IPL is all set to start on March 22, with the defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on the Red Army Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming encounter of the tournament.
However, ahead of the start of the tournament, the yellow army suffered a major blow as one of the match winners for CSK, Devon Conway, has been ruled out of the IPL till May due to injury.
Conway, who was awarded man of the match in the finals of the previous edition of the IPL, is all set to go for surgery on his left thumb.
Conway injured his thumb in the recently concluded T20 series against Australia, which forced him to be out for the opening test match of the two-match test series against Australia.
After the medical consultation, it was decided that Conway would have to go for surgery on his thumb, which forced him to be out of action until May.
As at least six to eight weeks are needed to recover completely after surgery, this has forced Devon Conway to remain out for at least half of the tournament, which is set to start on March 22.
Henry Nicholas has been included in the New Zealand squad for the test series against Australia as a cover for Devon Conway.
Australia are currently leading the two-match test series by 1-0 as they defeated the Blackcaps in the opening test match by 172 runs.