With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 a week away, there have already been plenty of injury concerns for many teams. Australia’s Nathan Ellis has been ruled out of the tournament, as has India’s Harshit Rana. The likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood, too, will miss the initial stages of the tournament in order to manage their workload. Amid all this, Punjab Kings (PBKS) have also been dealt with a blow, but luckily for them, it is not an injury concern.
Their pacer Lockie Ferguson is expected to miss the first seven matches of the competition. According to reports, it was a planned leave due to personal reasons and PBKS are supportive of the New Zealand pacer’s decision.
“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 said.
According to the recent IPL rules, any overseas player who pulls out of the tournament after beibg picked will be banned for two years. Harry Brook was the first player to be banned since the rule came into play and the England captain did not participate in 2025 as a result.
The same will, however, not apply to Ferguson as he is expected to be back for the latter stages.
“He is not available for the first seven games,” an IPL source told PTI.
“Ferguson’s move is classified as a planned leave for personal reasons rather than a breach of contract or an unauthorised absence, and thus no sanctions are anticipated,” he added.
Ferguson has been in good form in T20 Internationals (T20I) of late. His spell of 1/9 in four overs earned him the Player of the Match award against South Africa in Auckland on March 20 (Friday). The 34-year-old fast bowler was retained by PBKS for INR 2 crore ahead of the auction.
PBKS get their IPL 2026 campaign underway on March 31 against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Mullanpur.
