In the upcoming season of IPL 2023, most of the franchises have one injury issue or another. Punjab Kings are the latest to join the list. English batter is all set to miss the tournament for the Mohali-based outfit. Here, we take a look at the reason why Jonny Bairstow will not play in IPL 2023.
Jonny Bairstow will not play in IPL 2023
In September last year, Bairstow suffered a freak injury which led to him becoming unavailable for the 2022 T20 World Cup. He has been recovering since then and is still going through this stage. At this juncture, the ECB does not want to risk and hence, they have not given the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the cricketer.
England has some important tournaments such as the Ashes and the ODI World Cup 2023. Bairstow is a key member in all the formats and hence, it is understandable why ECB has taken this decision.
A big blow for Punjab Kings
PBKS made some bold calls before the auction. They released Mayank Agarwal and froze Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan as the opening combination. Now, with Bairstow not available, PBKS will have it tough to find a suitable partner for Shikhar. Most likely, the team is likely to use Bhanuka Rajapaksa at the top and would use someone like Raj Bawa or Rishi Dhawan in the middle-order. The other option is to have Prabhsimran Singh as Shikhar’s opening partner while using someone like Rajapaksa or Sikandar Raza in the middle-order. Promoting Sam Curran up the batting order is also a possibility.
PBKS will also be hopeful that the trio of Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran and Arshdeep Singh will click. This will be vital for the team’s chances in the tournament. Rahul Chahar will lead the spin attack of this squad while Harpreet Brar is the other option.
