Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) stated in a media release that they have released two of their foreign players, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Marsh, from their squad for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015.
Earlier during the ongoing IPL, the KXIP management was reportedly planning to release some of their foreign players to cut back on their expenses. A source close to the management had said earlier that KXIP were yet to take a decision on this, but they would be deciding on the same lines soon. And on Monday, they came up with a media release announcing the departure of Australian players Johnson and Marsh.
Both Johnson and Marsh have failed to impress in this edition of the IPL. Johnson took nine wickets in nine matches with an average of 37.33, which is very unlikely of someone like Johnson. Marsh, on the other hand, has scored only 81 runs in four matches at an average of 20.25.
"Two of our players Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Johnson have been granted permission to return home at their request for preparation of the upcoming West Indies Tour," stated the media release from KXIP, "While both the players have been of great significance to the team and contributed immensely, we respect our players' decisions. We have a fine line-up in place and are hopeful of a good performance in the upcoming matches."
These two players will now fly back to Australia and prepare for their upcoming tour of West Indies, which is scheduled to start from 27 May.
