Punjab Kings' bowling worries have further increased as their star pacer Lockie Ferguson seems set to miss the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2025. (Full Coverage | Points Table | Cricket News)
The Kiwi express pacer suffered an injury during Punjab Kings' loss to SunRisers Hyderabad last Saturday. He could bowl just a couple of deliveries before moving off field, clutching his left thigh.
The fast bowling coach of the Punjab franchise James Hopes said that the chances of Ferguson returning to play the season are very low.
"Ferguson is out indefinitely, and us getting him back by the end of the tournament is a very low percentage. I think he's done a real decent injury to himself," said Hopes on the eve of Punjab Kings' clash against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mullanpur.
Ferguson was looking in fine form this season and had taken five wickets in three outings before the SRH game where he could bowl just two balls. He was a key part of coach Ricky Ponting's plans for the Kings whose bowlers have struggled this season. The bowling attack which includes of Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal among other big names, has conceded over 200 runs in every game except one this season. They have also been unable to pick a wicket in the powerplay in their last three outings.
SRH chased down the 245-run target against the Kings with nine balls still remaining. The injury to Ferguson only adds to the headache of captain Shreyas Iyer and Ponting.
Punjab Kings have only one other foreign fast bowler, Australia's Xavier Bartlett, in their ranks. A right-arm medium pacer, Bartlett has not yet made his IPL debut.
The Kings play Kolkata Knight Riders next on Tuesday, April 15.
Punjab Kings IPL 2025 Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harpreet Brar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash
