If you were looking for Lockie Ferguson on the Punjab Kings‘ team sheet tonight, you will have to wait longer. The Kiwi Express is officially out of the early stages of IPL 2026 but not due to the hamstring issues that plagued his previous season.

Ferguson out of action due to personal reason

The 34-year-old pacer is currently on paternity leave following the birth of his first son. Ferguson, who has been vocal about balancing his professional commitments with his new role as a father, revealed he would be staying in Auckland to “help the wife out” before joining the IPL grind.

How many matches will Ferguson miss?

PBKS will be without their primary overseas enforcer for the first few matches of the league stage. While there is no official confirmation yet, several reports claim that he could miss the first seven matches, eyeing a return in mid-April.

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This echoes his recent schedule during the T20 World Cup, where he took a brief hiatus before returning to lead the Black Caps’ attack in the Super 8s.

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Who fills the 150kph hole?

Coach Ricky Ponting hasn’t been left scrambling. The franchise’s investment in Ben Dwarshuis (Rs 4.4 crore) looks like a masterstroke now, as the Aussie enters the XI with a similar wicket-taking pedigree.

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With Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen also in the mix, PBKS has enough left-arm variety to keep the Gujarat Titans’ openers guessing tonight.

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Ben Dwarshuis, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Lockie Ferguson, Vishnu Vinod, Praveen Dubey, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad