Why did Lockie Ferguson miss KKR vs PBKS clash in IPL 2026?
Lockie Ferguson was retained by Punjab Kings for IPL 2026.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) eye their third straight victory in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match 12 of league. The KKR vs PBKS match got underway on April 6 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Although KKR have the home advantage against PBKS, they are on backfoot after their back-to-back losses against MI and SRH in their opening two games. On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer & Co. registered brilliant wins in their first two games.
They outplayed Gujarat Titans in their first game by three wickets, where debutant Cooper Connolly scored a match-winning half-century. Later, they chased down a mammoth 210-run target against CSK by five wickets.
In the match 12 of IPL 2026, KKR won the toss and opted to bat first. PBKS went in with the same XI and this meant that Lockie Ferguson, who missed the previous two games, again missed the game.
Why did Lockie Ferguson KKR vs PBKS match?
Ferguson has not joined the PBKS squad in IPL 2026 till now. He is on paternity leave due to the birth of his child. He had earlier informed that he would miss the initial games and would join the tournament mid-season. The New Zealand pacer was retained by the franchise for IPL 2026.
In Ferguson’s absence, Punjab have given an opportunity to Xavier Bartlett, who has been doing a great job for the team along with Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh and all-rounder Marco Jansen.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Cooper Connolly, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi
Is Lockie Ferguson part of KKR vs PBKS clash?
No, Ferguson is not part of the encounter. He is yet to join PBKS squad in IPL 2026.
What is the venue of KKR vs PBKS match?
The venue of the encounter is Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.