The experienced batter Shikhar Dhawan has been named as the new captain of Punjab Kings for the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Shikhar Dhawan will replace Mayank Agarwal, who led the team in the 2022 season but failed to take the team to the playoffs.
Over the years, Dhawan has been one of the finest batters in the cash-rich T20 tournament, which has helped him make a national comeback owing to his superb consistency.
The 36-year-old is currently the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament’s history with 6244 runs in 205 innings at an average of 35.08. In this process, he has hit 47 fifties and two centuries.
Kings paid INR 8.25 crore to Dhawan for the 2022 season, while trading him in from Sunrisers Hyderabad, after a terrific 2021 season.
In 14 games this year, Dhawan emerged as the top contributor for Punjab with 460 runs at an average of 38.33, while registering 88 as the highest score. Dhawan’s ability to use the powerplay well, and play an anchor role for his respective teams in the IPL have been his few specialities.
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Indian Premier League 2023: Shikhar Dhawan replaces Mayank Agarwal as Punjab Kings captain
Punjab Kings’ official accounts on social media shared the latest development on Wednesday night. In the IPL 2022 season, Punjab was average with their performances and secured seven victories in 14 league games and finished sixth in the points table.
Mayank could only accumulate 196 runs in 12 innings at a paltry average of 16.33, which clearly depicts the pressure of scoring runs as a skipper.
Under Mayank’s captaincy, the team could not seal the crunch moments and he was criticized for his player selection choices in the XI as well.
Dhawan has captained a total of 11 matches in the IPL history. In 2013, he led the Sunrisers Hyderabad team to the finals, while leading Punjab in one-off fixture in 2022. He has tasted success in 7 out of 11 fixtures.
Furthermore, Dhawan has got much experience leading the Indian team in the ODI format and is an able choice for this role. With renewed vigour and an experienced player at the helm, Punjab are expected to do well in the IPL 2023.
