With less than a week remaining for the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premeier League (IPL), Punjab Kings endured a major blow in the form of Jonny Bairstow. The English cricketer, who has a reputation of being one of the most destructive batter in the format, has been released from the Punjab squad after failing to recover from his injury.
Punjab Kings have named Matthew Short as his replacement.
“We regret to inform you that Jonny Bairstow will not be a part of the IPL this season because of his injury. We wish him the best and look forward to seeing him next season.
“We are pleased to welcome Matthew Short as his replacement,” the franchise tweeted.
As per a report, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) refused to grant Bairstow a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in the IPL. Bairstow is yet to recover completely from a leg injury, which he sustained in September last year.
Bairstow had missed England’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign and the following Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand after sustaining multiple fractures following a freak slip on the golf course in September 2022.
Short, on the other hand is a rising uncapped Australian cricketer, who specialises in batting but can also chip in with some off-spin. He was the Player of the Tournament in the recent edition of Big Bash League (BBL), where he also finished as the second-highest run-getter. Short amassed 458 runs with a strike-rate of 144.47.
Short also slammed a ton during the course of the tournament. He scored an unbeaten 100 in 230-run chase to beat Hobart Hurricanes.
With the ball, Short scalped 11 wickets at an economy of 7.13. Short is an all-format player and has three centuries across first-class and List A cricket under his name.
