IPL 2025: PBKS bowling coach James Hopes names players who will miss RR clash

Punjab Kings (PBKS) will be without two of their key players in their upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday, May 18.

PBKS bowling coach James Hopes said that Australian cricketers Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis are likely to join the team early next week. Aaron Hardie is another player who won't be available for the encounter against the Royals. However, Hopes believes that there is enough depth in the PBKS squad to cover up for the absentees.

"We do not have a complete squad. We hope that Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis join us early next week, but to be honest, I'm pretty bullish on the depth in our squad, like we have Mitchell Owens here. Marco Jansen arrives today, he has been training in Dubai. Outside of those two Australians and Aaron Hardie, we have got our full squad," Hopes said ahead of the match on Saturday.

"There have been certain times in the tournament that Josh and Marcus have not been selected anyway, so we are pretty bullish about our squad," he added.

The former Australian all-rounder also spoke about the reason behind not leaving India amidst uncertainties regarding IPL's resumption. Hopes stated that the Punjab management stayed in New Delhi, because they would not have gotten too much time to spend with their families if they had returned back anyway.

"I was sitting in Delhi and then I was on a bus down to here. Myself, Ricky Ponting, Brad Haddin, and the rest of the management, we stayed because there was a chance that after the ceasefire that the tournament might get up and running on Thursday night. And for us to go back to Australia and come back again, I would have spent about 12 hours in my house so I didn't think that was worth doing," he concluded.

PBKS are on the brink of making it to the playoffs for the first time since IPL 2014. They have registered seven wins and lost only three games in the 11 that they have played so far. One of their games ended without a result. The Shreyas Iyer-led side is placed at No. 3 on the points table. A win on Sunday will help them progress to the playoffs.