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IPL 2021: Punjab Kings Sign Nathan Ellis As Replacement Player After Jhye Richardson And Riley Meredith Get Ruled Out Of The UAE Leg
Australia pacer Nathan Ellis has been roped in by Punjab Kings for the UAE leg of IPL 2021. He comes in as a replacement player as both Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith won’t be available for the second half of the season.
Nathan Ellis shot in limelight after taking a hat-trick on his T20I debut a couple of weeks ago against Bangladesh. He has also been picked as one of the three travelling reserves for the T20 World Cup – as a back-up for injury or illness. Ellis is a surprise package pick for Australia as he has played just 7 first-class games, 11 List-A matches, and 33 T20s.
Punjab Kings, captained by KL Rahul, haven’t had an ideal season in the first half – they won 3 games and lost 5, and are sitting at the sixth position on the points table.
Punjab Kings Sign Nathan Ellis As Replacement Player:
Satish Menon, the franchise’s CEO, confirmed to Cricbuzz about the addition of Nathan Ellis as one of the two replacements; he also said that head coach Anil Kumble is working on the second replacement and that they are in talks with a few players.
“We were not aware of the fitness status of Jhye and Riley till yesterday (August 18). That they cannot be part of the IPL was known only after the Cricket Australia press conference. We have signed Elis as a replacement player. We will announce the second replacement in a day or two,” the franchise CEO, Satish Menon, told Cricbuzz.
“We are in talks with a few players. Anil (Kumble, the head coach) will finalise soon,” he added.
Both Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith are also not included in Australia’s touring contingent for the World Cup. In the first half of the IPL 2021 season, Richardson took 3 wickets in 3 games while Meredith bagged 4 in 4 matches; both the pacers were expensive leaking at over 9.5 runs per over.
Punjab’s first match back will be against Rajasthan Royals on September 21 in Dubai. Next, they will be playing two matches in Sharjah, one in Abu Dhabi, and two more in Dubai.
Also Read: BCCI In Talks With Virat Kohli On The Roadmap Of ICC T20 World Cup 2021
The post IPL 2021: Punjab Kings Sign Nathan Ellis As Replacement Player After Jhye Richardson And Riley Meredith Get Ruled Out Of The UAE Leg appeared first on CricketAddictor.
