England’s pace-bowling all-rounder Benny Howell made a name for himself with his excellent performances across the T20 leagues in different parts of the world. He is yet to play international cricket for England, but Howell has an experience of playing 157 T20 matches, scalping 163 runs and scoring 2,122 runs.
He is one of the few players to have a half-century and a five-wicket haul to his name in T20 cricket. Not many fans expected him to earn an IPL contract because he had never played international cricket, but the Punjab Kings showed faith in him and signed him for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League.
With the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Odean Smith, Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Liam Livingstone present in the team, it was unlikely that Howell would break into the Punjab Kings playing XI for the first game. However, even when the team was knocked out of the tournament, they did not give a chance to Benny Howell to prove himself in the middle.
Howell warmed the benches for close to two months as he now returns home without making his IPL debut. Since he was not picked in the Punjab Kings playing XI for their dead rubber against the SunRisers Hyderabad, Howell posted the following emoji on Twitter:
🤷🏻
— Benny Howell (@bennytweets_) May 22, 2022
Punjab Kings ignored Benny Howell but gave a chance to Nathan Ellis and Shahrukh Khan
It is not that the Punjab Kings did not make any changes to their playing XI for the dead rubber against the SunRisers Hyderabad. They handed Prerak Mankad his debut cap and gave a place to Nathan Ellis and Shahrukh Khan in the playing XI. PBKS won the match by five wickets eventually.
Looking at the recent tweet posted by Howell, it seems unlikely that the Punjab Kings may consider retaining him for the next season. It will be interesting to see if he makes his IPL debut in 2023.
