BARROW'S Liam Livingstone has said he is overjoyed just to be playing cricket again after making his return to action in the Indian Premier League following a lengthy lay-off with injury.

Livingstone has endured a frustrating year after sustaining an injury during The Hundred last August, followed by another on his England Test debut in Pakistan.

The explosive all-rounder has been on the sidelines since then but made his long-awaited return to action for Punjab Kings on April 20.

With the IPL season soon reaching its conclusion, with four games left in the league, Livingstone said he hopes to be able to help the franchise reach the finals.

Speaking on the Indian English language news channel Mirror Now, he said:

"It's been a long time since I've played cricket, so it's taken me a little while to get going.

"I'm just enjoying being back playing cricket and being in the team environment and not having to spend my life in the gym.

"I was coming back to somewhere I knew well, I enjoyed my time with Punjab Kings last year.

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"It's somewhere I’d already previously done well, so it's always nice to come into that environment where people already know what you can do.

"I've enjoyed it so far, but it feels like I've hardly been here."

Asked about what makes the IPL special, Livingstone said:

"If you look at our game against Chennai, when Dhoni came out to bat, I don't think there’s anywhere in world sport that would be as loud as what that stadium was, which was a cool experience.

"I was stood there for the last three or four balls of the innings just smiling about the atmosphere in there."

On the mix of nationalities in the Punjab dressing room, he said:

"It's good fun, everyone gets on really well, and we all like to take the mick out of each other.

"Having a good dressing room is a massive part of enjoying the game.

"I've got a lot of good friends in the dressing room now, having spent some time with them.

"I've obviously got Sam (Curran), who’s a close friend from England.

"I feel like we're really starting to build into playing our best cricket, and it's a really exciting part of the tournament."