Three Punjab Kings (PBKS) overseas players—Xavier Bartlett, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Mitchell Owen—have confirmed to the franchise that they will return to play the remainder of IPL 2025, which is set to resume on May 17.
However, there has been no confirmation yet regarding whether their other overseas players, including Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Josh Inglis, and Aaron Hardie, will return to India. Jansen and Inglis were named in South Africa’s and Australia’s Test squads for the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s, starting on June 11.
Despite most of PBKS’s overseas players returning home, the majority of their overseas coaching staff, including head coach Ricky Ponting and assistant coaches Brad Haddin and James Hopes, stayed in India. The franchise has requested its players and support staff to reassemble in the next two days.
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PBKS will resume training on Thursday in Jaipur, their new base for the remaining games against Rajasthan Royals (May 18), Delhi Capitals (May 24), and Mumbai Indians (May 26).
Currently, PBKS is third on the points table with 15 points after 11 games. They were in the middle of their 12th league fixture against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Dharamsala on May 8, when the match had to be abandoned during the first innings, after which the IPL was suspended due to escalating cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan.
The IPL was suspended on May 9 for one week, but the announcement of a ceasefire between the two countries on May 10 paved the way for the league’s resumption.
The IPL released the revised schedule for the remainder of the season on May 12. There are 13 league games remaining, in addition to the four playoff fixtures. The league phase will be played at six venues: Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with the playoff venues yet to be announced. The dates for the playoffs are as follows:
- Qualifier 1: May 29
- Eliminator: May 30
- Qualifier 2: June 1
- Final: June 3
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