Who is Xavier Bartlett – Everything you need to know about Punjab Kings' New Aussie Pace Sensation

Punjab Kings have included Xavier Bartlett in the playing XI against Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing 31st game of the Indian Premier League 2025. Bartlett is replacing the injured pacer Lockie Ferguson in this all-important and must-win game against KKR. It is also the debut appearance of the young Australian pacer in the Indian Premier League.

With that said, here we’ll have a look at the entire journey of Xavier Bartlett from under-19 cricket to represent the national side of Australia at the highest level of the game and now to one of the lavishing Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025).

Also Read: Who are Josh Inglis and Xavier Bartlett replacing today in PBKS vs KKR IPL 2025 clash?

From Queensland to Punjab Kings - An outstanding Journey of Xavier Bartlett

At the start of his career, he was at the top of Queensland’s plans at the age of 18 before representing Australia at the under-19 level. Furthermore, he also made it to the Big Bash League, and the tournament’s 2023-24 edition happened to be a big breakthrough in his career.

In BBL 2023-24, Bartlett finished as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament and played a vital role in Brisbane Heat’s triumph-winning run in the tournament. Bartlett scalped 20 wickets in 11 innings of the 11 games he featured in, with an amazing bowling strike rate of 11.55. It also included his best performance of ‘3 wickets at just 29 runs in a game.’

This outstanding performance throughout the season also became a major ground for his international debut for Australia. The 26-year-old made his ODI debut for Australia on February 2, 2024, before starting his T20I career just 11 days later on February 13, 2024. The Adelaide-born speedster has played 7 T20Is and 2 ODIs, scalping 11 T20I wickets and 8 T20I wickets, including two four-wicket hauls in the ODIs. 

Later, the star pacer was bought by the IPL franchise Punjab Kings for the amount of INR 80 Lakhs in the IPL 2025 mega-auction in Jeddah. 
Besides this, Bartlett has also been active in Australia’s First-Class circuit since 2019, followed by making his debut in the domestic T20 circuit in 2020. He has played 27 FC games, alongside 23 List-A games and 64 T20 games.

Here’s a look at Xavier Bartlett’s career so far: 

Also Read: WATCH: Ishan Kishan fumbles and loses the ball in hilarious fielding effort during SRH vs PBKS game