England's Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan have withdrawn from the rescheduled Indian Premier League. According to reports, BCCI's six-day quarantine rule was one of the major reasons why the English trio pulled out of the cash rich league. Wicketkeeper Bairstow was due to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad, all-rounder Woakes had signed for Delhi Capitals and Malan - the world's number one ranked Twenty20 batsman - was set to feature for Punjab Kings. Markram will replace Dawid Malan who is taking some time off to be with his family before the T20 World Cup and the Ashes Series," Punjab Kings said in a statement.
Last month, Punjab Kings signed Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis for Riley Meredith. the side has also picked England leg-spinner, Adil Rashid, to replace Jhye Richardson. Bairstow's unavailability comes as a big blow to SRH as Bairstow has been their go-to opening batsman since his IPL debut in 2019. The right-handed batsman was in decent form in the first half of IPL 2021 and had scored 248 runs, highest for SRH. No other SRH batsman has breached the 200-run mark in the season. Bairstow's absence is likely to open the doors for David Warner's return in the playing XI. The former SRH captain was sacked and dropped from playing XI during the India leg of the season. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav reached Abu Dhabi earlier today. All the players landing in UAE will have to serve 6-day isolation period.
