Punjab Kings' Glenn Maxwell ruled of IPL due to fractured finger
Chennai, May 1 (PTI): Punjab Kings' Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was on Thursday ruled out of the Indian Premier League's remaining matches after fracturing his finger, the franchise announced.
Maxwell suffered the injury before PBKS' rained out game against Kolkata Knight Riders in which he was dismissed for 7, continuing an underwhelming season.
“Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out of the remainder of the season due to a finger injury. We wish him a speedy recovery,” Kings posted on their social media handle.
Maxwell was replaced by Suryansh Shedge in Wednesday night's clash against Chennai Super Kings that PBKS won by four wickets.
The veteran Australian all-rounder had a forgettable run in this year’s IPL, managing a mere 48 runs in seven matches averaging a lowly eight while taking four wickets.
"Unfortunately, Maxi's broken his finger. He broke it just before the last game at training. He didn't think it was too bad, but it ended up getting pretty bad. He had scans and yeah, the results weren't great. So unfortunately for Maxi, I think it's likely he's out for the tournament," Maxwell's compatriot and PBKS teammate Marcus Stoinis had told ‘Jiostar' ahead of the CSK game.
Punjab head coach Ricky Ponting said the side is currently trying to figure a suitable replacement for Maxwell which may not be easy to find.
"We will be signing some replacements at some stage," Ponting said in the post-match press conference when asked about the injury setback.
"We've got until our 12th game, so we have a couple of games to go yet. With the squad we've got, we're trying to find players in our squad anyway. So we've got Azmatullah (Omarzai), Aaron Hardie who hasn't played yet, Xavier Bartlett who didn't play today.
"It's conditions based. But when we get to Dharamsala he will come back into the reckoning up there, where the ball might swing and bounce a little bit more," he explained.
Ponting said the side is having a good look at the Indian talent that it has as international options are limited due to other ongoing leagues.
"...there's not a lot of high quality replacements out there to be honest. So we've just been patient," he said.
"We're having a look around at Indian talent as well and we're looking at what roles we might be able to fill with some younger Indian players. We'll actually take a couple of guys to Dharamsala with us, a couple of guys trained with us yesterday and they will come with us to Dharamsala.
"...we'll have a closer look at them and they might find themselves with a Punjab contract going forward (smiles). It has to be this week, has to be before the 12th game so stay tuned," he added.
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Experience comes when you play bigger teams in bilateral series: Rashid Khan
Chennai (PTI): Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan called for more bilateral series against stronger cricketing nations after his team signed off from the T20 World Cup on a high, defeating Canada in their final group match here on Thursday.
Afghanistan played some exhilarating cricket, going down to South Africa in a gripping second Super Over after the scores were tied, a humdinger that provided one of the early thrills of the World Cup.
However, the spin-bowling stalwart said Afghanistan could make significant strides if they get regular opportunities to compete against stronger cricketing nations.
"Couple of areas to improve, with the batting, the middle order got a bit stuck against the big teams, and then with the bowling the death overs. That comes when you play the bigger teams in bilateral series," said Rashid after his team defeat Canada by 82 runs, with him returning excellent figures of 2 for 19.
The stalwart said the side had arrived well prepared for the tournament and produced some breathtaking cricket, but admitted the narrow defeat to South Africa proved costly and remained a painful setback.
"We were well-prepared (for the tournament), we played some unbelievable cricket. The game against South Africa, that really hurt everyone. We had to win one of those (first two) games and see how the tournament unfolded. We'll take some positive things from this World Cup and look forward," he said.
With head coach Jonathan Trott set to part ways with the team, Rashid described the departure as an "emotional" moment for the side.
"I think we had some wonderful times with him. Where we are now, he played a main role. It's emotional to see him leave us, but that's how life is. We wish him all the best and somewhere down the line we see him again."
Ibrahim Zadran, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 95 off 56 balls, said it was satisfying to finally register a substantial score after two below-par outings.
"I enjoyed it, didn't play better cricket in first two innings, which I expect. Wanted to back my skills, really enjoyed it. Pressure was there, it's there all the time. I want to put myself in pressure situations and enjoy it," said Zadran.
"Wanted to play positive cricket, rotate strike and punish bad ball, create partnerships and this is what I have done."
