Mitchell Owen to join PBKS after PSL stint with Zalmi as replacement for Glenn Maxwell

Punjab Kings (PBKS) have brought in Mitchell Owen, as their injury replacement for Glenn Maxwell, who was ruled out of IPL 2025 after fracturing a finger. Owen will join PBKS at the end of his stint with Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing season of the PSL for INR 3 crore.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that Owen will travel to India as soon as Zalmi's season comes to an end. Zalmi sit fifth out of six teams in the PSL at this stage, and play their final group-stage match on May 9. If Zalmi qualify for the playoffs, Owen's PSL commitments could run until the final on May 18 - two days after PBKS' final group-stage fixture, but before the start of the IPL playoffs. Owen has been eligible to be a replacement player at the IPL since he had registered for the auction late last year, even though he did not make the final shortlist.

Owen, the 23-year-old top-order batter from Tasmania, came to prominence in the latest edition of the BBL where he was the top run-scorer overall, playing a starring role in Hobart Hurricanes' title-winning run.

In the final, he scored 108 from 42 balls to win the Player-of-the-Match award. Owen finished with 452 runs from 11 innings, scoring at an average of 45.20 and a strike rate of 203.60. He has since played in the SA20 and the PSL. Owen also bowls medium pace and has 10 wickets in 20 innings in T20s. Ricky Ponting, the Australian head coach of PBKS, has followed Owen's success closely in his role as Hurricanes' head of strategy in the BBL.

In a PBKS statement*, Ponting said of Owen, "I think we're all very happy to add Mitchell Owen to our squad for the back end of this season… He's someone that I've watched very closely, especially over the last 12 months.

"He's a very exciting player, a very exciting package. He is someone that can bat lots of different positions in the order and can bowl some very handy medium pace as well, which will be really good for us. I'm really excited to have him as part of the group and looking forward to him getting over here sooner rather than later."

At the PSL, he was a replacement for Corbin Bosch at Zalmi after Bosch reneged on his deal to join Mumbai Indians (MI) as a replacement for the injured Lizaad Williams. Bosch was subsequently served a legal notice by the PCB and banned from the competition for a year.

"I deeply regret my decision to withdraw from the PSL, and offer my sincere apologies to the people of Pakistan, the fans of Peshawar Zalmi, and the wider cricket community," Bosch, who has played two games for MI in IPL 2025, said in a statement released by the PCB at the time.