“He’s just come back from a long-term injury” - PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin explains why Liam Livingstone didn’t play against GT

Punjab Kings (PBKS) assistant coach Brad Haddin stated that the think tank doesn’t want to rush Liam Livingstone into playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 since he has only just recovered from a ‘long-term’ injury.

After confusion over his availability and fitness status, Livingstone has finally joined the PBKS squad for IPL 2023. However, he did not feature in the game against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Thursday, April 13. Punjab lost the encounter by six wickets.

PBKS’ batting let them down for the second game in a row as they were held to 153/8 after losing the toss and being asked to bat first. Following the defeat, the question of Livingstone’s availability cropped up. Opening up at the post-match press conference, Haddin explained:

“He’s just got off a flight. We are just monitoring him for the next couple of days just to see where he is at. He’s just come back from a long-term injury so we just had the opportunity to put some eyes on him over the last 24 hours. We’ll know a lot more coming into the next game.”

Livingstone hasn’t played any competitive cricket since his debut Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in December last year. The explosive batter suffered a knee injury during the match.

Speaking about the star cricketer’s absence from the playing XI for the GT game, PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan said at the post-match presentation:

“He came for practice yesterday [Wednesday], he pulled his muscle. In another 2-3 days, he should be good to go.”

Livingstone smashed 437 runs in 14 matches for Punjab at a strike rate of 182.08 during IPL 2022.

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“We are going to back him” - Brad Haddin on Prabhsimran Singh

PBKS opener Prabhsimran Singh has had a mixed IPL 2023 so far. The 22-year-old smashed 60 off 34 balls against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) but has failed to open his account in the franchise’s last two matches.

Haddin, however, asserted that Punjab's think tank will back him to play his naturally aggressive game. Haddin said:

“We’ve seen against Rajasthan, he’s extremely talented when he gets in. He’s got a lot of shots around the field and he can be a match-winner. It’s just about him understanding his tempo and his role. We are going to back him to play a style of game that we need in the first six overs.

“It’s going to be a high-risk game, so you are going to see some good and bad performances. We’ve got a lot of options in the squad but at the moment his role is safe up there at the top of the order.”

Prabhsimran has played 10 IPL matches so far, scoring 147 runs at an average of 14.70 and a strike rate of 127.83.