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Lockie Ferguson dents Punjab Kings on the verge of IPL 2026, ruled out of tournament

Abhinav Tyagi

Lockie Ferguson for Punjab Kings - (Source: Adityaverse/X.com)Lockie Ferguson for Punjab Kings - (Source: Adityaverse/X.com)

In a significant development, the Sydney Thunder have dealt a massive blow as they will miss New Zealand seamer Lockie Ferguson’s services for the rest of the season because of an injury. 

Notably, the right-arm pacer was all set to join the Thunder for a short stint starting from Thunder’s match against Hurricanes on January 3, but now will miss the BBL because of a calf injury.

The Thunder released an official press statement stating that Ferguson will not take part in the remaining edition and will travel back to New Zealand for his recovery. 

"We’re gutted that Lockie won’t be with us this year. Not only does he bowl 150km/h with an incredible amount of experience in all conditions, but he is genuinely one of the best humans in cricket and added so much to our squad culturally, too. "

"We wish Lockie all the best in the recovery ahead of the World Cup and hope to one day see him back playing for the Thunder Nation,” remarked Sydney Thunder General Manager Trent Copeland.

David Willey Roped in as a replacement

The Thunder didn’t waste a single minute and have roped in England left-arm seamer David Willey as Ferguson’s replacement. 

We’re incredibly excited to have David Willey join us this season. His bowling capabilities speak for themselves – being able to deliver tight, deceptive slower balls, yorkers, and cutters under pressure,” said Copeland.

Notably, Willey won’t be available for Thunder’s upcoming match Hurricanes. He will join the team ahead of their clash against the Strikers and will also be available for their clash against the Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades.

It will be the first time that Willey will play for Thunder, as the southpaw previously represented Perth Scorchers in two seasons. 

Lockie Ferguson in race to be fit in time for the T20 World Cup 2026

Before the injury, Lockie Ferguson featured in the ILT20 for Desert Vipers, where he did well and picked up five wickets in five innings. However, now he faces a race against time to be fit in time for the T20 World Cup 2026, which starts from February 7 in India and Sri Lanka. 

Apart from New Zealand, Punjab Kings will also be sweating hard over Ferguson’s fitness because the Shreyas Iyer-led side took a big gamble and retained the 34-year-old for IPL 2026 despite his injury threats.

For the unversed, Ferguson was ruled out of IPL 2025 with an injury mid-season and could only play four games, where he had five wickets to his name. Therefore, the Kings cannot afford to lose him again with injury for two straight seasons. 

Sydney Thunder updated squad

Besides Ferguson, Reece Topley has also left the Thunder squad and has departed for South Africa to play in the SA20 season four. Here is the updated Sydney Thunder squad.

Wes Agar, Charlie Anderson, Tom Andrews, Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings (ENG), Ollie Davies, Lockie Ferguson (NZ), Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Ryan Hadley, Shadab Khan (PAK), Sam Konstas, Nic Maddinson, Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras, Aidan O'Connor, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner, David Willey (ENG)