Shikhar Dhawan is currently injured in what is a big blow for PBKS’ ambitions in the ongoing IPL 2024 season.
It just couldn’t get more worse for Punjab Kings as they received a massive setback midway through their ongoing IPL 2024 season. Against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, Punjab were without captain Shikhar Dhawan, who was ruled out due to a shoulder injury and in his place, all-rounder Sam Curran led the side.
PBKS Captain Shikhar Dhawan during a practice session.
RR managed to clinch a narrow three-wicket victory to stay on top of the table. But PBKS are now meandering at eighth position in the standings. If they hope to make it to the playoffs, then they need their captain Dhawan, but it looks like he could missing a couple of games.
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Also Read | ‘Jitesh wasn’t the designated vice-captain…’: PBKS clarify why Sam Curran replaced Shikhar Dhawan as captain in RR tie
Sanjay Bangar, who is Head of Development at PBKS, revealed that the opener is likely to be out of action for the next ‘seven to 10 days’. Speaking after the match, Bangar said, “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,” he further added.
PBKS face Mumbai Indians on April 18 in a home fixture, and also take on Royal Challengers Gangalore on April 21 in their reverse game at home. Dhawan will be missing those matches and is expected to return to action on April 26, when PBKS take on KKR.
Bangar also clarified that Jitesh Sharma was never PBKS vice-captain. There was confusion when Curran walked in for toss as Jitesh had filled in for Dhawan earlier. Meanwhile, Curran has past captaincy experience with PBKS, leading them in three matches last year.
“The thought was always to have Curran [stand-in] because he had led the team in the previous year as well. He was late to arrive from the UK and because he wanted to have few sessions, that’s the reason we couldn’t send him to Chennai for [briefing] and hence Jitesh was sent since the directive from the IPL [committee] was that a player has to attend… We were very clear in our minds that if at all there had to be an opening, Sam Curran would be taking over and will [fill in] as the team’s captain,” he said.
