Team India’s star opener Shikhar Dhawan has been appointed as the Captain of Punjab Kings for the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League as he replaced Mayank Agarwal.
Dhawan’s appointment as the captain was approved on Wednesday during a board meeting and was backed by Trevor Bayliss, Punjab Kings’ head coach.
Punjab Kings confirms Shikhar Dhawan’s appointment as captain
There was a constant rumor going on about Punjab Kings sacking Mayank Agarwal as captain and the news was confirmed on Wednesday as the team declared Shikhar as their new captain as they tweeted on their official Twitter handle.
The Punjab-based franchise posted a picture of Shikhar with the caption, “Gabbar will be at the Shikhar for Punjab Kings! #SherSquad, welcome your Skipper, Jatt ji! #ShikharDhawan #CaptainGabbar #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings @SDhawan25.”
The star lefty of Team India accumulated 460 runs in 14 matches in his debut season for Punjab Kings at the IPL 2022 and is one of the most successful batters of the cash-rich league as he has amassed 5,881 runs in 162 IPL matches.
Mayank Agarwal was retained by Punjab Kings ahead of the 2022 mega auction as he had consistently scored runs from 2018-2021 for the Punjab franchise. However, his performance went downhill just as he was appointed as the captain for the 2022 edition.
The Bangalore-based opener even dropped himself from opening and played in the middle order. Agarwal scored just 196 runs in 13 matches at an average of 16.33. The team didn’t do very well either. Kings ended the season in sixth place.
All the IPL Franchises have until November 15 to submit a list of the players they want to retain and it would be interesting to see whether Punjab Kings will release Agarwal or not as they always keep chipping and chopping with the squad. Punjab might be keen to play with a new opening combination as Mayank failed to deliver in the last season.
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Punjab Kings has appointed Trevor Bayliss as their new head coach ahead of the IPL 2023 edition and after announcing Shikhar as captain the team might look to form a new core after a mediocre performance in IPL 2022.
