Liam Livingstone. (Photo by Will Russell – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Punjab Kings (PBKS) have been handed a significant boost as hard-hitting star all-rounder Liam Livingstone took to social media to drop an update on his arrival to IPL 2023. Notably, the English all-rounder sustained knee and ankle injuries and was confined to the sidelines for the last four months.
Livingstone last featured in a Test match against Pakistan in December. However, since then, the 29-year-old all-rounder has remained out of action from competitive cricket but is set to mark his return as he shared a major update on his social media handle.
“It’s been a long couple months, but it’s time to get back to work… see you soon @PunjabKings,” tweeted Livingstone ahead of his return.
“This tweet came just in time to lift our mood after a difficult day. See you soon,” responded PBKS.
The Punjab-based franchise acquired the services of Livingstone for a mammoth INR 11.50 crore in the mega-auction in 2022. Last season, the all-rounder aggregated 437 runs in 14 outings and laced it with four half-centuries to his name.
I’ll fly out to India in next 48 hrs: Livingstone
On April 9, during the coverage of Lancashire’s County Championship game, Livingstone stated that he had taken a few injections to get up and running. Furthermore, he added the probable dates on which PBKS fans can see him get back in action for the franchise.
“[I’m] getting there, finally. It’s been a long road. Maybe towards the end of this week or the start of next week, I’ll fly out to India and get going again. Feeling much better. I had some injections midway through last week. It’s settled it down a lot, finally been able to get outside and do some running and get back to proper cricket stuff. That’s probably been about four or five days now, so just trying to build back up to match fitness now,” he told on LancsTV.
PBKS have played three matches thus far with two wins and one loss, which came against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Shikhar Dhawan and Co. play defending champions Gujarat Titans on Thursday, April 13, and it remains to be seen if Livingstone takes the field in the clash.