Livingstone leaves IPL early to get his knee ‘sorted’ ahead of T20 World Cup

Liam Livingstone, the Punjab Kings and England allrounder, has left India ahead of schedule in a bid to get his knee “sorted” ahead of June’s T20 World Cup.

Livingstone has suffered from a series of muscle injuries in the past two years and missed two games early in the IPL season after he went down in the field during a defeat to Lucknow Super Giants last month. He was later left out by PBKS as they looked to find their best combination of overseas players, but he returned to the side in their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.

“IPL done for another year, had to get my knee sorted for the upcoming World Cup,” Livingstone wrote on Instagram. “Thanks once again to the Punjab Kings fans for all their love and support. Disappointing season as a team and personally, but as always I loved every minute of playing in the IPL”

With PBKS now eliminated from the tournament, with four wins and eight defeats from their first 12 games, Livingstone has returned home. ESPNcricinfo understands that his knee injury is not serious enough to place his prospects of travelling to the T20 World Cup in doubt but requires a period of rest before England play Pakistan in four T20Is later this month.

Livingstone struggled to make an impact for PBKS in what he described as a “disappointing” campaign. He made 111 runs at 22.20 in seven innings, striking at 142.30, and took three wickets in 12 overs. It extends a lean winter for him in franchise cricket after a quiet SA20 season with MI Cape Town and a two-match stint with Sharjah Warriors.

The other members of England’s World Cup squad who have been at the IPL – Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Phil Salt and Reece Topley – will begin to return home in the next few days and are expected back in the country this weekend. They will meet up in Leeds ahead of England’s first T20I at Headingley on May 22.