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Before the forthcoming Indian Premier League edition, Afghanistan all-rounder Azamatullah Omarzai's arrival at Punjab Kings has been delayed for personal reasons. Omarzai, the ICC ODI Player of the Year, will only be able to join the team on May 20. The Punjab Kings' overseas players will begin arriving on Monday.
On March 25, the Punjab Kings take on the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad in their season opener. The journeys of head coach Ricky Ponting and skipper Shreyas Iyer at Punjab Kings also begin this season. In Dharamsala, Ponting connected with the team.
Omarzai's arrival delayed
Following a training camp in Dharamsala, where they will play three home games this season, the Indian players of the team, including newcomer Yuzvendra Chahal, arrived in Chandigarh on Sunday evening. Captain Iyer and lead pacer Arshdeep Singh, who were in the Indian Champions Trophy team, have also joined the Chandigarh team. Following their victory in the Champions Trophy, the Indian players were granted a week off.
"Omarzai has some issue at home. He will be in India by May 20. The rest of the foreign players start trickling in from today," an IPL source told PTI.
Iyer, who led KKR to the championship the previous season, is expected to lift Punjab Kings out of their rut following over ten years of poor play. The team is full of all-around players, such as Glenn Maxwell, who is rejoining the team, Marcus Stoinis, Omarzai, and Marco Jansen.
According to Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan, Australian pacer Nathan Ellis is the lone foreign player who has not yet joined the team.
"All others including Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway are here. Nathan will join soon," he said.
Star Indian players Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who just retired and rejoined the club after a ten-year absence, have already signed. New Zealand batsman Glenn Phillips is expected to arrive at Gujarat Titans, but captain Shubman Gill joined the team on Sunday night.
"Glenn will be here by tomorrow," said a source.
