Jonny Bairstow to miss IPL 2023 for Punjab Kings, Liam Livingstone set to return after injury spell

IPL 2023 franchise Punjab Kings will miss the services of star English batter Jonny Bairstow for the upcoming season, as the English Cricket Board (ECB) denied him a NOC considering his recovery, which will take some more time. On the flip side, the PBKS camp got a boost with news of Liam Livingstone’s availability for the whole season.

Jonny suffered a weird injury while playing golf with his friends in Yorkshire in September last year and missed all cricket action since. In October, he underwent surgery on a broken leg and dislocated ankle and is expected to be up and running in a few weeks. However, given the time he spent on the sidelines away from cricket, the ECB decided against giving him a NOC for the upcoming season of IPL. Bairstow, 33, will remain in contention for the home Ashes that starts from June 16th.

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As reported by the Cricbuzz, Jonny will miss the whole season, whereas his fellow teammate Liam Livingstone is expected to be available. Liam suffered injuries in his knees and ankles during the Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan in December last year and spent his quota of time away from the game. The latest reports now suggest that he was part of Lancashire County Cricket Club's off-season training recently in Dubai and will arrive in India soon for IPL 2023, scheduled to begin on March 31st.

Other than these two, another star English all-rounder Sam Curran, who happens to be the costliest player-ever in the history of this cash-rich league, will also be available for the complete season. While Punjab purchased Bairstow and Liam for nearly INR 18 crores combined, they splurged another INR 18.50 crores on Curran during the December auction.

Punjab will open its IPL 2023 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 1st.

Here’s Punjab Kings squad for IPL 2023 –

Arshdeep Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Baltej Dhanda, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathe, Shivam Singh