For the forthcoming Indian T20 League in 2023, Punjab have replaced England's Jonny Bairstow by signing Australian cricketer Matthew Short. Bairstow got hurt in 2022 and never fully recovered from that injury.
At the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali, Punjab will face Kolkata April 1 to kick off their Indian T20 League season. Punjab Kings failed to advance to the playoff round for a second consecutive season last year as they placed sixth in the standings. In 15 seasons, Punjab, just twice succeeded in making it into the playoffs in 2008 and 2014.
The team has a new roster going into the season after selling off a lot of its players. They have a new captain in the form of the experienced Shikhar Dhawan and would hope to qualify for the play-offs this time around.
The Indian T20 League 2023 season will be Short's debut season in India. In the most recent Big Bash League, the opening batsman, who scored 458 runs and claimed 11 wickets with his off-spin, was named Player of the Tournament.
In October, Bairstow underwent surgery for a broken leg and dislocated ankle, and the Englishman was anticipated to be fully recovered in a few weeks. But for the daring hitter, the 16th season of the IPL, which will begin on March 31, arrived too soon.
Furthermore, the England Cricket Board apparently opted to refuse Bairstow's NOC since he did not play professional cricket since August, and did now want him to take a risk just before England and Australia would play in the Ashes later this year.
What video of Matthew Short has gone viral on social media?
Punjab recently posted a reel on their Instagram page which has made the fans go wild on social media. The video saw Short lip-sync a popular Hindi dialogue from Bollywood. The dialogue was from the famous movie 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham' and it was enacted perfectly by Short and his co-actor.
Fans react to a very funny reel posted by Punjab involving Matthew Short: -
Matthew Short in Punjab Kings' funny reel. pic.twitter.com/VQRFvEelyR
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 29, 2023
PBKS has a good chance of winning this year
— NIKHIL 🇮🇳 (@nikhil_nsu) March 29, 2023
Yuzi chahal ne sbko tiktoker bna diya hai😹
— Vipin Tiwari (@vipintiwari952_) March 29, 2023
After losing 15 IPL season, Preity Zinta be like 😂 pic.twitter.com/xXbMC1vF8l
— Bhupender Thakur (@MisterBeeTee) March 29, 2023
Cringe pic.twitter.com/eV6ctD3uZH
— Jai Tweets 😶🌫️ (@Hey_Jai_1309) March 29, 2023
This is funny 😭
— #RetireKohli (@priyam1_raj) March 29, 2023
Cricket doesn't need these content creators.. The early they know it the better for cricket
— Sunkari Suresh (@SunkariSuresh15) March 29, 2023