IPL 2025: Who is 23-year-old Mitchell Owen? Glenn Maxwell’s replacement at PBKS for remainder of season

Mitchell Owen, the 23-year-old Australian opener, has replaced injured all-rounder Glenn Maxwell at Punjab Kings (PBKS) for the remainder of IPL 2025. The right-handed batter emerged as the breakthrough star for his Big Bash League (BBL) franchise, Hobart Hurricanes, in the past season, amassing 452 runs, including his maiden hundred in the final that helped them lift their first title. However, there is a catch here as Owen needs to abide by his Pakistan Super League (PSL) commitment before joining PBKS for his maiden IPL stint for INR 3 crore.

The PSL 2025 runs till May 18, and considering Owen’s team, Peshawar Zalmi, reaches the final, the rookie batter can leave only after that. Punjab Kings’ group-stage matches end on May 16, so should Owen get free after the PSL final, he will only be available for the IPL playoffs, should PBKS make it, which begins on May 20. As things stand, Zalmi is fifth on the PSL 2025 points table, with three matches remaining.

Mitchell Owen is a top-order batter from Tasmania, a state that produced several cricketing legends, including former Australia great and current PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting. 

Coming off as a regular opener in BBL 2024/25, Owen made the tournament about himself after becoming the highest run-scorer overall that season. He played a starring role in the Hurricanes’ maiden title-winning run. In the BBL final, he completed a 39-ball hundred, scoring 108 off 42 balls, including 11 sixes and six fours, and winning the Player-of-the-match award. 

Owen averaged 45.20 and had a staggering strike rate of 203.60. Since his BBL final heroics, he earned his maiden overseas T20 contract with Paarl Royals in the SA20 the past season, later playing in his second foreign league in the PSL. Ironically, Ponting was the Hurricanes’ head of strategy in the BBL.

Meanwhile, Owen was Corbin Bosch’s replacement at the PSL franchise after the South African seamer signed up for Mumbai Indians in the IPL as an injury replacement for his national teammate Lizaad Williams. 

For not abiding by his PSL commitments, Bosch even issued an apology.

"I deeply regret my decision to withdraw from the PSL and offer my sincere apologies to the people of Pakistan, the fans of Peshawar Zalmi, and the wider cricket community," Bosch said in a statement released by the PCB at the time.

In IPL 2025, Punjab Kings is fifth on the points table, with four matches remaining.