Punjab Kings pacer Lockie Ferguson was unavailable for selection in Punjab Kings’ IPL 2026 opener against Gujarat Titans at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. The New Zealand international is currently out on paternity leave and is expected to join the squad close to the mid-season. The 34-year-old confirmed the development during New Zealand’s T20I series against South Africa earlier in the month.
“Just had a wee son. Trying to spend as much time as I can at home and help the wife out... I’ll have a few weeks off after this, before sort of heading to the later stages of the IPL and away for the winter,” Ferguson had said.
In his absence, the Punjab management has brought in Xavier Bartlett, who played only four matches in the IPL, claiming two wickets at an economy rate of 9.60. However, he is very trusted by head coach Ricky Ponting and it’s arguably for the same reason that the Australia international is picked ahead of Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai.
Punjab win toss, elect to field
Punjab have won the toss and elected to field first in the first game. Explaining the reason behind the move, Shreyas explained that chasing is relatively easier on the ground.
“We're going to bowl first. I firmly believe that chasing gives you a fair idea about how to go about the target. And also, we played a couple of practice games and whatever total was scored, I think it was easily chased down. So, thinking that at the back of my mind, I'm taking that decision,” Iyer said after the toss.
Teams:
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, M Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Mohammed Siraj
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