Follow UsLockie Ferguson was ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 after he picked up an injury in the International League T20 (ILT20) 2025, playing for the Desert Vipers and then again while trying to play in a warm-up match ahead of the main tournament in Pakistan.
He was eventually replaced by Kyle Jamieson. Will that mean Ferguson will be unavailable for the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025 as well? Though the length of his recovery is not known, if he misses the IPL, here are the top three players who can replace him at Punjab Kings.
This might sound like a big surprise, but Steve Smith could actually be brought in by the Punjab Kings as Ferguson’s replacement. Smith is in great form in the shortest format, smashing 524 runs in 15 matches since January 2024. His strike rate of 157 and average of 52 are nothing but testament to the fact that he loves whipping the white ball across the boundary for fours and sixes.
Moreover, Punjab already have a lot of pace bowling options in Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett, Azmatullah Omarzai and Marcus Stoinis. In any game, one would hardly play more than two pacers to go with the all-round options of either Stoinis or Omarzai. Thus, Smith comes in as a natural extra batting and leadership option.
But if Punjab are looking for a bowler that would be different gravy altogether than the ones that they have, Mustafizur Rahman could be the ideal fit. He was not picked up at the auction and, as a result, will be available.
The Fizz already has experience of playing in the IPL, having represented five different teams across 57 matches, with 61 wickets. Recently, in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the left-arm bowler picked 13 wickets at an average of 19 and an economy rate below 8, even while bowling most of his overs either in powerplay or at the death.
For a like-for-like replacement, Naveen-Ul-Haq of Afghanistan fits the bill instantly. A former Lucknow Super Giants representative, the right-arm pacer has picked up 25 wickets in 18 IPL games in his career so far.
The 25-year-old was not picked up in the IPL 2025 mega auction. With his pace and the ability to hit the deck hard, the speedster could be the ideal type that Punjab are looking for.
Australian left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff might not be like for like and could even seem very out-of-place given that the team already has Arshdeep and Jansen as left-arm pacers. But the Western Australian bowler brings something different to the table with his accuracy and his full proof ability to bring the ball back into the right-handers.
While Arshdeep is an amazing death bowler and Jansen could be brilliant in powerplay with his swing and hit-the-deck lengths, Behrendorff is a mixture of both. He already has experience of 17 IPL games in which he has taken 19 wickets.