Punjab Kings call on Matt Short as Jonny Bairstow replacement

The Adelaide Strikers opener enjoyed an excellent Big Bash at the start of the year

Adelaide Strikers opener Matt Short has been rewarded for an excellent Big Bash campaign with a maiden IPL deal.

He replaces Jonny Bairstow at Punjab Kings, with the Englishman instead continuing his rehabilitation from a broken leg by making his return for Yorkshire in May.

Short was named as the player of the tournament in the Big Bash, smashing 458 runs at an average of 35.2, with a strike rate of 144.47. Among those numbers was an unbeaten century in a remarkable run-chase against Hobart Hurricanes, whereby Adelaide chased down 230.

Bairstow is a major miss for Punjab Kings, for whom he offers a wicketkeeping option, as well as being one of the game's foremost white-ball players of spin and a brutal powerplay hitter.

^{Jonny Bairstow is out of the IPL (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)}

The injury forced him out of the T20 World Cup, as well as England's Test tours to Pakistan and New Zealand.

He has, however, now returned to running and batting in the nets. And, at Yorkshire's AGM on Friday, the club's director of cricket, Darren Gough, revealed the plan was for Bairstow to play two Championship fixtures in May before the international summer begins in June with Tests against Ireland and then Australia.

That means, if his recovery continues as anticipated, Bairstow will return in Yorkshire's Championship match against Glamorgan which starts at Headingley on May 4. If he comes through that unscathed, he will play the next round of matches, starting on May 11, against Durham in Chester-le-Street.

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