“Tried convincing players but they were not ready to come, Anil Kumble will finalise one soon”- PBKS CEO on replacement player

Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) CEO Satish Menon has admitted that the franchise is facing some difficulty in finalizing a replacement player for the squad ahead of the UAE leg of IPL 2021. The need for replacements arose after the Australian pace duo of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith pulled out of the second half of IPL 2021.

While Nathan Ellis has been confirmed as one of the replacements by PBKS, the search for a second one is still underway. Menon, however, expressed confidence that the franchise’s coach Anil Kumble will finalise the second replacement in the next couple of days.

Speaking to InsideSport, Menon said about the developments in the PBKS camp:

“We tried convincing the players but they were not ready to come, we respect the decision. We are in talks with few players. Our head coach Anil Kumble will finalize one soon in next 2-3 days. Nathan Ellis already has been signed for the UAE leg.”

Ellis recently created history when he claimed a hat-trick on his T20I debut against Bangladesh. He was even named as one of Australia's three reserve players for the T20 World Cup to be held in the UAE and Oman in October-November this year.

Nathan ᴇʟʟ-ɪs a 👑He’s the newest addition to #SaddaSquad for the second phase of #IPL2021! 😍#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/0hMuOJ19NU

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) August 20, 2021

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Came to know about Richardson, Meredith’s fitness status only after CA press conference: PBKS CEO

Earlier, Menon told InsideSport that the franchise came to know about the unavailability of Richardson and Meredith only a couple of days before BCCI’s deadline for IPL 2021 squad submission - August 20. With the franchises failing to announce their squads due to uncertainty over the status of foreign players, the BCCI has extended the deadline.

The PBKS CEO was quoted as saying about the ruled-out Aussie duo:

“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 (CA) press conference.”

Richardson played three matches for PBKS in the first half of IPL 2021, claiming three wickets at an economy rate of 10.63 and a strike rate of 22. Meredith, on the other hand, featured in five games and claimed four wickets at an economy rate of 9.94 and a strike rate of 25.50.

That sound 💥😍More of this is coming your way in a month’s time 🥰#ENGvIND #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #UniverseBoss @henrygayle pic.twitter.com/wVZ3whvds5

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) August 19, 2021

PBKS ended the first half of IPL 2021 in the sixth position. They won three and lost five of the eight matches they featured in.