IPL 2024: HUGE Blow For Punjab Kings As Captain Shikhar Dhawan Out On Sidelines For Atleast ‘7 To 10 Days’
Mullanpur: Punjab Kings were dealt with a heavy blow as captain Shikhar Dhawan is likely to miss home games against Mumbai Indians (April 18) and Gujarat Titans (April 21) in the ongoing IPL 2024 due to a shoulder injury. Dhawan’s injury first came to light with Sam Curran came for the coin toss against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. Although the English all-rounder didn’t clarify the nature of Dhawan’s injury, Head of Cricket Development, Sanjay Bangar, later revealed the truth.
At the post-match press conference, Bangar stated Dhawan could be out for atleast ‘seven to 10 days’. “He’s having a shoulder injury, so he is likely to be out for at least a couple of days, I would say. Having an experienced opener, somebody like Shikhar, who has experience of playing on such wickets, becomes extremely crucial (for the team).
“We have to wait and see how he responds to the treatment. At the moment, it seems that he could be out of action for at least seven-ten days,” said Bangar on Saturday. As far as his stats are concerned, Dhawan hadn’t fired in the five games that he played so far in this season.
However, he is still Punjab Kings’ highest run-getter in IPL 2024 with 152 runs. The loss against Rajasthan Royals was their fourth in six games. Bangar also clarified the stance of sending Curran to lead the side instead of Jitesh Sharma, who had attended the captains’ photoshoot in Chennai just a day before IPL 2024 began. “No, no, he (Jitesh) wasn’t the designated vice-captain,” Bangar stated.
“The impression could have been because he attended the captains’ seminar, or meeting, at the start of the IPL. But the thought was always that… because Sam has led the team in the previous year as well; he was late to arrive from UK and he wanted to have a few [training] sessions, that’s the reason we couldn’t send him to Chennai. Hence Jitesh was sent, because the directive was that a player has to attend.
“It wasn’t the case that Jitesh was the stand-in captain. We were very clear in our mind that if at all there had to be an opening, Sam Curran will be taking over and do the job as the captain,” added the former India batting coach.