Josh Inglis is finally with Lucknow Super Giants and, by the sound of it, he cannot wait. “I’ve been itching to get stuck in,” he told the franchise’s in-house media soon after landing in Mumbai late on Thursday. The Australian keeper-batter, bought for INR 8.60 crore after Punjab Kings released him, is available straight away for Monday’s meeting with Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede.
That fixture – the ninth for both sides – has the whiff of a basement scrap. Each has collected only two wins, so fresh energy is welcome. Head coach Justin Langer admitted as much. “Having Josh around stiffens up our middle order and gives us another keeping option,” he said at training on Friday. “The lads have seen what he can do in international cricket. Now it’s about transferring that here.”
Inglis missed the first half of the campaign for the best of reasons: his wedding in Margaret River on 18 April. The numbers he left behind at Punjab were handy enough – 278 runs in 11 innings, average 30.88, strike-rate 162.57 – and LSG’s overseas batters could use a lift. Nicholas Pooran is averaging 10.25; openers Aiden Markram (24.12) and Mitchell Marsh (26.50) have also mis-fired.
While one arrival lifts spirits, another departure has been handled with quiet respect. South African batter Matthew Breetzke flew home before the 26 April thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders, a Super Over defeat. A close family bereavement on his wife’s side is understood to be the reason, and the franchise has not set any return date. “Family comes first,” a team spokesperson noted. “We’re giving Matt all the time he needs.”
Lucknow face a hectic stretch – Mumbai away on Monday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home on Thursday, then Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on Sunday – knowing they likely need to win at least two to stay in the play-off conversation. Inglis, wedding ring and all, could hardly have arrived at a busier moment.
