IPL 2023: Who is Matthew Short? Know all about PBKS' surprise replacement for Bairstow

England star batsman Jonny Bairstow was officially ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season on Saturday after multiple media reports claimed he has been denied a NOC by the England Cricket Board (ECB). This comes as a major blow for the Shikhar Dhawan-led franchise, who open their IPL 2023 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). PBKS announced the development on their official Instagram handle on March 25.

“We regret to inform you that our Sher Jonny Bairstow will not be a part of the IPL this season because of his injury. We wish him the best and look forward to seeing him in our colours next season. We are pleased to welcome Matthew Short as his replacement in the squad,” PBKS wrote in the caption.

Who is Matthew Short? Interesting details about the 27-year-old Aussie

For fans wondering who is Matthew Short, he is a 27-year-old Ballarat-born Aussie cricketer, who is yet to make his international debut. He represents Victoria in domestic cricket and also plays for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League. He made headlines earlier this year for winning the BBL 2022-23 Player of the Tournament at the Australian Cricket Awards.

His inclusion in the PBKS squad for IPL 2023 comes on the back of a sensation BBL season, where he ended up becoming the first Strikers player to receive the Player of the Tournament award. He notably scored 458 runs for the team in 14 games at a strike rate of 144.47. In the process, he hit a century, two fifties, and hit a maximum of 100* runs in an innings.

In his T20 career, Short’s run tally stands at 1409 runs at a strike rate of 136.00 in 67 games. PBKS will be hopeful that Short lives up to the hype during IPL 2023, which begins on March 31. Having said that, here’s a look at the complete PBKS squad for IPL 2023.

IPL 2023: Complete Punjab Kings squad after Matthew Short's inclusion

PBKS: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shahrukh Khan, Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Baltej Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, and Mohit Rathe