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:
“#𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐛 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬! ❤️”
Check out the Tweet:
#𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐛 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬! ❤️
— 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.
