Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shikhar Dhawan could be out of action for a week or 10 days after suffering a shoulder injury, confirms Head of Cricket Development of PBKS Sanjay Bangar.
If Dhawan sits out for a week then he could miss two PBKS home games of IPL 2024 matches, against Mumbai Indians (April 18) and against Gujarat Titans (April 21).
"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. Having an experienced opener, somebody like Shikhar, who has experience of playing on such wickets, becomes extremely crucial for the team.
Dhawan also missed PBKS' Saturday night's match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) as Sam Curran stepped up to take captaincy duty at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.
"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", Bangar said a press conference after Kings' three-wicket loss off the penultimate ball in a low-scoring game against RR.
There was some amount of confusion aroused when Curran stepped out for the toss against RR, especially considering that last month during the pre-season captains' briefing in Chennai, Jitesh Sharma had filled in for Dhawan.
Clarifying the situation in the presser, Bangar said, "No, no, he (Jitesh) wasn't the designated vice-captain. 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."
In a similar situation during IPL 2023, when Dhawan was temporarily sidelined due to an on-field injury, Curran had taken charge of PBKS, leading them in three games with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss.
"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," he added.
Dhawan hasn't had the best time with the bat in IPL 2024, scoring 152 runs from five innings at an average of 30.40 and a strike rate of 125.61.
The PBKS are currently placed eighth in the points table, with four wins in six matches.
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