In one of the most disappointing developments of the day, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was ruled out of the series against South Africa and the first half of IPL 2020 because of an elbow injury. This news has shocked the cricket universe, especially the fans of Kings XI Punjab as the franchise had bought him for a massive amount in IPL 2020 Auction.
The all-rounder had opted out of IPL 2019 to focus on his preparations for the 2019 Cricket World Cup and after that he took an indefinite break due to depression. Luckily, he returned to the cricket field soon as he made a stunning comeback for Melbourne Stars in the recently concluded Big Bash League. However, he has picked up an elbow injury which may deny him from participating in the 2020 edition of IPL.
Kings XI Punjab will look to sign a replacement for him and here are the 3 possible players who can join KXIP.
Ben Cutting:
A similar type of player like Glenn Maxwell, Ben Cutting is a proven match-winner in the T20 format. He had made a name for himself by playing a match-winning knock for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2016 final. He surprisingly went unsold in the IPL Auction 2020.
The Australian player played for Mumbai Indians in the previous season however, due to the presence of Kieron Pollard, he never got an opportunity to prove himself worthy of a place in the match squad. Kings XI Punjab could sign him as a replacement because the conditions in Mohali will assist his pace bowling as well.
Yusuf Pathan
Kings XI Punjab had earlier saved the IPL career of Chris Gayle by buying him in the final rounds of IPL Auction 2019. The big man repaid the owners’ faith with memorable performances in IPL 2019 and IPL 2020. The Mohali-based franchise will look to resurrect the career of another big-hitter named Yusuf Pathan.
Just like Glenn Maxwell, Pathan is a big-hitting middle-order batsman who can bowl few overs of off-spin in the middle. Plus of course, he is an Indian player so, Punjab can add an extra overseas player in their team. Hence, Pathan can be a replacement for Maxwell.
Carlos Brathwaite :
Carlos Brathwaite is another player who was overshadowed in his previous IPL franchise by a bigger match-winner and later went unsold in this year’s auction. Andre Russell did not allow Brathwaite to play more matches in IPL 2019 hence, he was released by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2020.
None of the teams showed interest in the former West Indies T20I skipper but, Kings XI Punjab can sign him as they have shown a lot of love to the West Indian stars. They already have Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and Sheldon Cottrell in their squad and if they acquire Brathwaite’s services then he can prove to be a major boost for the team.
With the likes of KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Pooran, Gayle and Karun Nair present in the squad, Brathwaite will complete the batting lineup playing the role of a finisher besides bowling a few overs of pace in the bowling section.
