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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BCCI to discuss IPL resumption options on Sunday: Rajeev Shukla
New Delhi, May 10 (PTI): BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla on Saturday said the Board officials and IPL Governing Council will discuss on Sunday the best possible schedule to complete the suspended T20 League following the announcement of an immediate ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
The Board was forced to suspend the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday, with 16 matches remaining, as the India-Pakistan border conflict threatened to grow into a full-blown war following the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s subsequent Operation Sindoor.
"The war has stopped. In the new situation BCCI office bearers, officials and IPL Governing Council, will discuss the matter tomorrow (Sunday) and take a call. We will see which can be the best schedule to complete the tournament," Shukla told PTI Videos.
It was being speculated that the League could be moved to Southern Indian cities Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad but Shukla said such an option was perhaps relevant in the scenario of a continued military conflict.
"That was an option when war was going on. There are many options which have been discussed. The ceasefire has just been announced, give some time to us, we will discuss and then only a decision will be taken," Shukla said.
A total of 12 League stage matches and four play-off stage matches are yet to be played in the tournament.
Most of the foreign recruits, who compete in the League for different teams, have already left the country.
Thursday’s match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala was abandoned midway due to the conflict. With the Dharamsala airport shut, players and support staff of both teams travelled by bus to Jalandhar and then boarded a train to Delhi.
