Why is Shikhar Dhawan not playing today's PBKS vs MI match in IPL 2024?
Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shikhar Dhawan will miss a second consecutive IPL 2024 match on Thursday, this time against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at home.
Dhawan is recovering from a shoulder injury that also kept him out of the match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 13. English all-rounder Sam Curran will continue to lead the side in his absence. The team put up a good fight to chase RR's 153-run target but fell short by five runs in the last over.
Before the MI match, PBKS spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi didn't delve into details of the skipper's injury and just said he was in "rehab".
"The medical team will assess the situation and inform us," Joshi said. "Now, he is in rehab. Sam Curran has been donning the Captain's hat for us in his absence. He was also the stand-in captain last year when Dhawan was injured, and he led the side well. So, we trust him completely."
Earlier, after the RR game, head coach Sanjay Bangar had spoken more openly.
"Unfortunately, we missed out on him because he's having a shoulder injury," Bangar had said. "So he's likely to be out for at least for 7-10 days. I would say having an experienced opener and somebody like Shikhar who has got experience playing on such wickets becomes extremely crucial."
If Shikhar Dhawan is indeed out for 10 days, it'd mean he'll also miss the weekend's clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT). Losing the current highest scorer for the team for a good run of home games is a big blow to the side's hopes of reaching the Qualifiers, especially as they have just two wins from six games so far.
Who has replaced Shikhar Dhawan in PBKS's playing 11?
Against RR, PBKS fielded young Atharva Taide to open the innings and he could only score 15 (12). So against MI, the team dropped him as well as out-of-form Jonny Bairstow bringing in Rilee Rossouw. This means the team would field a completely different opening order for this match.
Catch all the proceedings here.