Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], April 14 (ANI): Following the defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the Cricket Director of Punjab Kings (PBKS) Sanjay Bangar provided an update on Shikhar Dhawan’s shoulder injury saying that he could be ruled out of the tournament for at least seven to ten days due to shoulder injury.
Despite not having an outstanding IPL 2024 season, Dhawan is now the Punjab-based franchise’s leading run scorer with 152 runs from five innings at an average of 30.40 and a strike rate of 125.61.
The PBKS side has lost four of their first six games in the ongoing 17th edition of IPL and they are currently in eighth position in the IPL 2024 points table, largely due to their problems with the bat at the top-order.
Dhawan’s opening partner Jonny Bairstow has also struggled, with just 96 runs in six innings. Both Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh have struggled with consistency and effectiveness, with 119 and 106 runs in six innings respectively.
The former India batting coach asserted that having an experienced cricketer like Dhawan is extremely crucial for the team.
“He’s having a shoulder injury, so he is likely to be out for at least a couple of days, I would say. Having an experienced opener, somebody like Shikhar, who has experience of playing on such wickets, becomes extremely crucial [for the team]. We have to wait and see how he responds to the treatment. At the moment, it seems that he could be out of action for at least seven-ten days,” Bangar stated in the post-match press conference.
Dhawan is the second-highest run-getter in the history of the cash-rich league. The left-hand batter has scored 6768 runs in 222 matches at an average of 35.07 and at a strike rate of 127.12 with the highest score of 106*. (ANI)
