5 interesting facts about Richard Gleeson, CSK's latest signing for IPL 2024

Richard Gleeson has joined defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as a replacement for Devon Conway in IPL 2024. The 36-year-old pacer made his T20 debut back on June 10, 2016, and almost eight years later, he is set for his maiden IPL stint.

Gleeson is a right-arm fast bowler, who has been a late-bloomer in professional cricket. Chennai Super Kings have a habit of signing experienced players, and they have added another such player to the squad in the form of Richard Gleeson.

Before Gleeson makes his IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings, here's a look at the five things which fans should know about the England pacer.

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#1 Richard Gleeson destroyed India's top-order in his 1st game for England

Gleeson made his international debut for England in a T20 game against India on July 9, 2022 in Birmingham. England skipper Jos Buttler opted to field first after winning the toss. The visitors got off to a flier, with Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant adding 49 runs in 4.4 overs.

Debutant Gleeson broke the partnership by dismissing Rohit Sharma in his career's first over. The right-arm pacer then came back to pick up Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant's wickets in his second over. He ended the game with figures of 3/15 in four overs, which also included a maiden.

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#2 Richard Gleeson only plays T20 and T10 cricket

Due to injury issues, Gleeson shifted his focus to the shorter formats in recent years. The right-arm pacer played his last List-A match on March 23, 2018, whereas his previous first-class appearance was for Lancashire against Durham in August 2020.

Since then, Gleeson has only played in the shorter formats of cricket. In all, he has played 90 T20s, bagging 101 wickets, including one four-wicket haul and one five-wicket haul.

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#3 Richard Gleeson did a brilliant job for Gulf Giants in ILT20

Earlier this year, Gleeson turned up for the Gulf Giants team in UAE's International League T20 competition. The fast bowler played five matches for the Giants, picking up five wickets at an economy rate of 7.15.

He would open the bowling for the Giants and even bowl in the middle-overs phase. With CSK having an expert death bowler in the form of Matheesha Pathirana, someone like Gleeson can shoulder the powerplay responsibilities for the team.

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#4 Richard Gleeson worked several odd jobs before getting his big break

Just a few years ago, Gleeson worked at a fishing tackle shop, an odd job for a boiler firm and also as a landscape gardener before Lancashire handed him a coaching role in 2015. He was focused on his career as a coach but he worked hard on his bowling as well and took every opportunity that came his way.

Eventually, he made it big. A player, who had given up hope of even playing professional cricket, is now all set to play for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

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#5 Richard Gleeson hurt his back badly in 2020

Gleeson has faced many injury setbacks in his career so far. Just when he came back from an England training camp in 2020, he had enormous pain in his lower back. In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Gleeson even mentioned that it felt like that someone was stabbing him repeatedly in the back.

Things got so bad that his back was effectively being held together by a single cartilage. The pacer then underwent a lengthy rehab programme to attain 100% fitness. In 2022, he made his debut for England and now, he is all set to play for CSK in IPL 2024.