Breakout Hobart Hurricanes star Mitch Owen is heading to the IPL after being signed by Ricky Ponting
Punjab sign BBL final hero as Maxwell's injury replacement
Big Bash final hero Mitch Owen is set for his maiden stint in the Indian Premier League after being signed by Ricky Ponting's Punjab Kings as an injury replacement for Australian superstar Glenn Maxwell.
Maxwell will miss the rest of the 2025 IPL season with a broken finger having also endured a tough run of form with 48 runs and four wickets in his seven matches before injuring his finger at training.
Ponting's side strengthened their hold on second spot on Sunday night with a dominant 37-run win over Justin Langer's Lucknow Super Giants, where another Aussie, Josh Inglis, cracked his best IPL score with four sixes in his 14-ball 30 to help Punjab post 5-236 in Dharamshala.
Hobart Hurricanes breakout star Owen is currently playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League, registering scores of 31 and 34 in his seven matches with a tournament strike rate of almost 200.
Peshawar sit fifth with three games to play this season, one spot outside playoff contention. Their last regular season match is on May 9, with finals to run until May 18 if they qualify, two days before the start of the IPL playoffs on May 20.
Owen will join Punjab for A$550,000 (INR 3 crore), adding to the franchise's strong Aussie contingent this season featuring Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett and Ponting as head coach.
The 23-year-old Tasmanian shot to global prominence after blazing the equal fastest Big Bash century in the KFC BBL|14 Final last summer to lead the Hurricanes to their maiden title, which opened the door to playing opportunities in the South African, Pakistan and now Indian T20 leagues.
"It's nice to get these little deals, at the moment I want to take every opportunity that comes," Owen said ahead of his stint in the PSL.
"It's a massive tournament in world cricket and I can't wait to get over there and stuck in … and enjoy a new experience."
Australians at IPL 2025
Chennai Super Kings: Nathan Ellis ($365k)
Delhi Capitals: Mitch Starc ($2.15m), Jake Fraser-McGurk ($1.65m)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Spencer Johnson ($510k)
Lucknow Super Giants: Justin Langer (coach), Mitch Marsh ($623k)
Punjab Kings: Ricky Ponting (coach), Marcus Stoinis ($2m), Glenn Maxwell ($770k), Mitch Owen ($550k), Josh Inglis ($475k), Aaron Hardie ($228k), Xavier Bartlett ($146k)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood ($2.29m), Tim David ($547k)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins ($3.7m), Travis Head ($1.2m), Adam Zampa ($440k)
2025 IPL standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
KXI
|
14 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.372 | 0 | 19 |
|
2
RCB
|
14 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.301 | 0 | 19 |
|
3
GUT
|
14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.254 | 0 | 18 |
|
4
MI
|
14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.142 | 0 | 16 |
|
5
DEL
|
14 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.011 | 0 | 15 |
|
6
SUN
|
14 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 1 | -0.241 | 0 | 13 |
|
7
LSG
|
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | -0.376 | 0 | 12 |
|
8
KKR
|
14 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.305 | 0 | 12 |
|
9
RAJ
|
14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | -0.549 | 0 | 8 |
|
10
CSK
|
14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | -0.647 | 0 | 8 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points