The skipper has been ruled out for atleast two upcoming home matches of his team.
In a significant blow to Punjab Kings, captain Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out for 7-10 days due to shoulder injury. Dhawan missed Punjab’s match against Rajasthan on Saturday (April 13), which they lost by 3 wickets. Sam Curran led Punjab Kings in Dhawan’s absence.
The injury has come at a time when the Kings are struggling to find their feet in the tournament. They have won two games and lost four games so far and are at eighth spot in the points table. With the team’s recent loss to Rajasthan Royals, Punjab have now lost two close games in a row on their home ground.
Dhawan’s injury and unavailability for the upcoming matches was confirmed by Punjab Kings Head of Cricket development Sanjay Bangar. in the post-match press conference.
“Unfortunately we missed out on having Shikhar (tonight) because he has a shoulder injury. So, he’s likely to be out for a couple of days (games). I would say. We’ll have to wait and see how he responds to the treatment, but at the moment it seems that he could be out of action for at least seven to 10 days,” Bangar stated.
Dhawan is likely to miss Punjab Kings’ upcoming home fixtures against Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. It remains to be seen whether he gets fit for his team’s away fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 26 or not.
His absence would not be felt just as a captain but as a batter as well. He is the team’s most experienced and dependable batter and has scored runs consistently for them. Overall, Shikhar Dhawan is the second highest run-getter in the IPL, just behind Virat Kohli, and is one of the few players currently who have been around since the start of IPL in 2008.
Also read: Punjab Kings explain why Jitesh Sharma wasn’t captain after Dhawan was ruled out
In IPL 2024, Shikhar Dhawan has scored 152 runs in five matches at an average of 30.40 and a strike rate of 125.62 so far. He has one half-century to his name this season with the highest score being 70.
In Dhawan’s absence, Sam Curran is set to continue as Punjab Kings’ captain. Vidarbha batter Atharva Taide opened alongside Jonny Bairstow against Rajasthan Royals and is expected to continue his role till Dhawan comes back.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.
