JP Duminy out of Champions League

JP Duminy, the Cobras and South Africa batsman, will not take part in the Champions League T20 following a knee injury he picked up during the tri-series in Zimbabwe. He was withdrawn from the squad and did not travel to India.

The question of a replacement for Duminy, however, is in a state of flux. ESPNcricinfo understands that the Cobras' frontline choice was likely to be 26-year old allrounder Sybrand Engelbrecht. Yet, approval from the CLT20 technical committee about a Cobras replacement is pending as they are yet to receive official documents confirming Duminy's injury. The CLT20 technical committee is made up of BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel, Sundar Raman, chief operating officer of the IPL, and MV Sridhar, BCCI's general manager, cricket administrations.

Duminy is the second-highest run-scorer for Cobras with 981 runs from 40 matches. He has represented them in two Champions Leagues and took Cobras to the semi-final in 2009. He also turned out for Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2010 and 2013 respectively.

Like Dale Steyn, Duminy was also withdrawn from the CLT20 by the CSA medical team rather than his franchise. His injury took place during the Zimbabwe tri-series and had left him doubtful to play the final. After passing a fitness test, however, Duminy did play in the tri-series final on September 6. It is not confirmed however, this latest withdrawl from the CLT20 is due to the recurrence of the old injury from the tri-series or a new injury that took place after he played in the final, Duminy's last match to date.

Cobras begin their campaign against Northern Districts on Friday in Raipur.