Delhi: The Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) is in its final stages. Meanwhile, some teams have suffered major setbacks as many England players have returned home due to commitments with the national team. Punjab Kings (PBKS) have suffered the biggest blow, because many English players were included in their team. Meanwhile, many people have criticized the England Cricket Board (ECB) because the England players returned to their country in the final phase of the IPL.

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At the same time, Punjab Kings coach Sanjay Bangar said that the England and Wales Cricket Board had earlier assured that their players would be available for the entire IPL 2024 season. However, as the duration of the competition increased, they had to change their plans. It is known that England has to play a 4-match T20 International series against Pakistan from May 22. After this, both these teams will tour West Indies and America to participate in the ICC T20 World Cup.

Sanjay said in the press conference on Sunday, “When the auction took place, the England Cricket Board had made it clear that all their players would be available, but after that the duration of the competition increased a bit, I would say there were many reasons for this. Everyone was in the same situation, but we lost English cricketers.”

There were English players like Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran in the Punjab team. Apart from this, Phil Salt of playoff-bound Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Jos Buttler of Rajasthan Royals (RR), Will Jacques of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) also returned home, hence, they will not be available for the playoffs.

Top players of Punjab Kings got injured

In such a situation, Punjab was shocked not only by the return of the English players but also by the injuries of other players. Captain Shikhar Dhawan got injured after playing 5 matches. In his place, Sam Curran took command of the team, but after he also returned home, Jitesh Sharma led Punjab in the last league match. PBKS fast bowler Kagiso Rabada also went home due to injury.

Interestingly, due to unavailability of many foreign players, Punjab gave the only foreign player Riley Rousseau a chance in the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. Punjab became the first team to field the only foreign player in the playing eleven.

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