Finch, Maxwell to miss IPL openers

Sydney, February 15

Australia’s Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell will miss their opening Indian Premier League (IPL) game when Kings XI Punjab lock horns with Delhi Daredevils on April 8 at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

Finch, who was bought by the Kings XI Punjab will tie the knot with fiancee Amy Griffiths on April 7 while Delhi's Maxwell has been named the master of ceremonies for the event.

"I saw the fixture this morning —there's no chance I'll be missing my wedding," said Finch. "That'd be a bit tough leaving Amy at the altar, wouldn't it?" he quipped.

"The second game we play is on April 13, that'll give me plenty of time to get over there and miss only one game luckily," Finch said, who is expected to be available for the second game of KXIP's 2018 campaign.

"Having one of my good mates 'Hodgey' (Brad Hodge) as coach... he knows about it now. I did wait a bit longer to send him the invite to the auction. It's just a case of missing one game but hopefully playing with Kings over a three-year period, it's not the end of the world," he added.

While Finch will enjoy Maxwell's company at the wedding, he knows his other Australian teammates will not be able to make it to his big day. "Guys like Davey (David Warner) and that, they've got a job to do for their franchises so I'm sure they'll be in India," Finch said. —IANS