Englishman Jonny Bairstow, who has been denied a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the cricketing board for the upcoming edition of IPL 2023. The development comes as a huge blow to Punjab Kings. The wicketkeeper-batter sustained a major freak injury on a golf course ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022 and has not been in action since.
Bairstow underwent surgery to treat his broken leg and dislocated ankle in October 2022 and missed several of England's international assignments. As per a Cricbuzz report, Bairstow is close to making a full recovery. But the ECB believes that, given the nature of the injury he recovered from along with the long layoff that came with it, the IPL might be a huge step right away. He is expected to be available for the Ashes series at home, which begins on June 16. Meanwhile, the franchises biggest signing Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone will be available for the entire IPL.
