Punjab Kings have lost their last two matches in IPL 2023.
Shikhar Dhawan, the regular captain of Punjab Kings, is unavailable for the game against Lucknow Super Giants. Dhawan has sustained a shoulder niggle, which has ruled him out. The Englishman, Sam Curran, will lead Punjab Kings in Dhawan’s absence.
Punjab Kings have had an excellent start to the season, having won their first two games. However, they lost their last two matches and looked out of sorts. Now PBKS have also lost their captain due to an injury.
The news of Shikhar Dhawan’s injury broke just before the toss ceremony. Sam Curran was seen coming at the toss instead of the regular PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan. Soon, it was confirmed that Shikhar Dhawan had sustained a shoulder niggle in the last game against Gujarat Titans.
This is a massive blow for Punjab Kings, who are coming into the game on the back of two consecutive losses. Shikhar Dhawan is not only their main captain, but he is also the best batter in the team currently. Dhawan had carried the batting unit on his own in the season so far.
The extent of the injury is unknown as of now. Sam Curran was himself unaware of the severity of the niggle, but is hopeful that “he won’t be out for long”.
“Shilkhar picked up an injury last game. Don’t know how bad it is, but hopefully, he won’t be out long. His absence is huge,” exclaimed the stand-in captain at the toss.
Sam Curran is leading an IPL franchise for the first time in his career. This will serve as a great learning curve for the richest cricketer in the IPL.
However, Shikhar Dhawan’s absence has depleted the quality of the batting unit further. In the first four games, PBKS batters couldn’t support Shikhar Dhawan in an ideal way. 35.68% of the total PBKS batters’ runs were accumulated by Shikhar Dhawan himself.
In the four innings, the 37-year-old amassed 233 runs at a sublime batting average of 116.50 and a strike rate of 146.54 this season. Punjab Kings would want Dhawan to recover quickly and return to the park as soon as possible.
