After Mumbai Indians' Corbin Bosch, Mitchell Owen leaves PSL midway to join Punjab Kings ahead of IPL 2025's resumption

Australia's young batting all-rounder Mitchell Owen has joined Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025's resumption. Earlier, as per reports, Owen was expected to link up with PBKS after Babar Azam-led Peshawar Zalmi's campaign in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025.

PBKS shared a photo of Owen joining the squad with captain, "Owen has entered the den!"

Owen replaced Glenn Maxwell who was ruled out of the tournament due to fractured finger. He has been roped in for Rs 3 crore.

Owen unlikely to suffer Bosch's fate

Before Owen, Corbin Bosch had ditched PSL to join five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) as replacement player for South Africa pacer Lizaad Williams. Bosch faced a ban from the PSL and apologised to the franchise as well. However, the Australian is unlikely to face the same fate as his contract would have expired by the time IPL 2025 resumes. Similarly, Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper-batter will leave Quetta Gladiators to join Gujarat Titans (GT) as Jos Buttler's replacement for playoffs.

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Owen played seven PSL games and scored 102 runs at an average of 14.57. His strike rate is 192.45. With the ball, he has taken a couple of wickets at an average of 10. HIs economy rate in the league is 7.05 runs per over.

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Ponting rates Owen highly

Owen has been touted as the next big thing by PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting who wanted him to replace an injured Mitchell Marsh in Australia's ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad. The young batter had a dream run in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2024-25 for Hobart Hurricanes.

He was the highest run-scorer in the league and scored two half-centuries including one in the final. From 11 innings, he accumuldated 452 runs at an average of 45.20. His strike rate of 203.60 has made him a favourite in franchise leagues.

PBKS' remaining matches

Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS are currently placed third on the points table with 15 points from 11 games including seven wins. Their first match upon resumption is against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 18. Their next two matches are against Delhi Capitals (DC) and MI on May 24 and 26 respectively in Jaipur.