Veteran Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan is all set to replace Mayank Agarwal as the captain of Punjab Kings from IPL 2023. On Tuesday, Punjab Kings via their official Twitter handle announced the big news of Dhawan taking over as the captain of the team, replacing the very talented Mayank Agarwal. Punjab Kings wrote:
“#๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ค๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ฐ๐๐ง ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ! โค๏ธ”
Check out the Tweet:
#๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ค๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ฐ๐๐ง ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ! โค๏ธ
โ Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) November 2, 2022
As per a report by ESPNcricinfo, Dhawan’s elevation was approved on Wednesday during a franchise board meeting and was backed by Trevor Bayliss, who is Kings’ newly appointed head coach.
Shikhar will take over from Mayank, who was appointed captain just before IPL 2022. He was one of the two players – Arshdeep being the other player – who have been retained by the Kings ahead of the mega-auction. Dhawan was the first player bought by Punjab Kings.
Earlier this year, Dhawan was roped in for INR 8.25 crore (US$1.1 million approx.) by Punjab Kings. He has been among the most consistent batters ever since the 2016 IPL. Dhawan was released by Delhi Capitals (DC) after the 2021 season. He has represented Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians in the past. In IPL 2022, he scored 460 runs in 14 games with an average of 38.33 and a strike rate of 122.66.
Talking about Mayank Agarwal, he has been an integral part of the team now. He has had several match-winning partnerships with his former opening partner and captain, KL Rahul. Mayank had replaced Rahul as PBKS skipper after the latter moved to Lucknow Super Giants. Mayank had a terrible season in IPL 2021 as he scored just 196 runs from 13 matches at 16.33.
