IPL 2024: England batter Jonny Bairstow will be available for Punjab Kings in the entire Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season which begins on March 22, despite returning home only recently following a long Test tour of India.
On the sidelines of the Dharamsala Test, the BCCI officials were in talks with their England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) counterparts over the availability of their players for the IPL.
England’s Test team regulars like Ben Stokes, Joe Root, and Mark Wood already have made themselves unavailable for the lucrative T20 league as part of ECB’s workload management following the five-Test series that ended in Dharamsala on Sunday.
India defeated England by an innings and 64 runs in the fifth Test at Dharamsala to clinch the five-match series 4-1.
“Bairstow is expected to arrive in India on March 18 or 19 and will be available for the team’s first game against Delhi Capitals on March 23,” PTI quoted an IPL source as saying.
Bairstow, who played his 100th Test in Dharamsala, had a horrible outing with the bat in the recently concluded Test series against India but would be aiming to be back among the runs in the IPL.
The England batter missed out on participation in the last season due to an injury which forced Punjab Kings to name Matthew Short as his replacement.
Bairstow has featured in 39 IPL matches so far and has scored 1291 runs at an average of 35.86 with the help of nine fifties and a century.
Wasim Jaffer released from batting consultant’s position
Sanjay Bangar, who was appointed as cricket director at Punjab Kings ahead of the 2024 edition, will double up as the batting coach of the side. Bangar was previously with RCB and has also been India’s batting coach.
Considering that, the franchise has parted ways with Wasim Jaffer, who was the team’s batting consultant last season.
Punjab, whose only final appearance came in the 2014 edition, have been perennial under-performers in the IPL.
Head coach Trevor Bayliss’ contract expires after the season and Punjab will have to make the play-offs for him to have a shot at an extension.
Dharamsala to host team’s two home games
Though the whole season schedule is not out yet, Punjab are expected to play their final two home games in Dharamsala like last season.
The other five games will be held in the new stadium built in Mullanpur, Mohali.