Punjab Kings (PBKS) have signed on Australian seamer Nathan Ellis as a replacement after his compatriots Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith were ruled out of the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021).
Ellis, who is also part of Australia's T20 World Cup squad as a traveling reserve, recently took a hat-trick on his T20I debut in Bangladesh. He joined Brett Lee and Ashton Agar in an exclusive club of Australians with hat-tricks in the shortest format.
Punjab Kings team CEO Satish Menon confirmed to Cricbuzz. "We were not aware of the fitness status of Jhye and Riley till yesterday. That they cannot be part of the IPL was known only after the Cricket Australia press conference. We have signed Ellis as a replacement player.
We will announce the second replacement in a day or two. We are in talks with a few players. Anil (Kumble, the head coach) will finalise soon." he added.
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Earlier in the day, cricket.com.au reported, "Ellis was being chased by three IPL franchises for the upcoming tournament before agreeing to terms with an unnamed team on Thursday night."
Punjab Kings have six points from eight games and will need to win at least five of their remaining six games to qualify for the playoffs.
