Punjab Kings’ captain Shikhar Dhawan is facing a shoulder injury, confirmed by coach Sanjay Bangar. This setback could keep him out of action for at least a week, possibly longer. As a result, Dhawan might miss two upcoming IPL 2024 matches: against Mumbai Indians on April 18 and Gujarat Titans on April 21, both scheduled at home in Mullanpur.

In the absence of Dhawan, Sam Curran took charge during the toss for Punjab Kings, leading to some confusion as Jitesh Sharma had represented the team during the captains’ conference in Chennai earlier in the season.

“He’s having a shoulder injury…”

“So he is likely to be out for at least a couple of days, I would say,” Bangar said. “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.”

“No, no, he [Jitesh] wasn’t the designated vice-captain,” Bangar added. “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.

“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.”

Although Dhawan’s performance with the bat hasn’t been exceptional in IPL 2024, he remains Punjab Kings’ highest run-scorer with 152 runs from five innings, averaging 30.40 with a strike rate of 125.61. However, the team’s struggles at the top of the order have contributed significantly to their four losses in six games, leaving them at the eighth spot on the table.

Dhawan’s absence creates void in Punjab Kings

Dhawan’s opening partner, Jonny Bairstow, has also faced challenges, managing only 96 runs in six innings, while Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma have struggled for consistency and impact with 119 and 106 runs respectively in six innings each.

Bangar said, “Certainly is a cause for concern that the top order is not making enough runs for us.” He added, “They are trying hard – I am not saying that they are not applying themselves – but it’s just not coming. Low-scoring games, especially at Mullanpur, the way the wicket is… that also has a factor. Because if you see, some of the scores have been pretty low.

“All the three games that we have played here, in the first six overs, with the new ball, the wicket tends to just jag a little bit, and uneven bounce as well. So maybe that is also a contributing factor because, not only us, the visiting teams and their top order are facing issues.”

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In their recent match, with Dhawan sidelined, Punjab Kings experimented with Atharva Taide at the top, who scored 15 runs in 12 balls. Despite their efforts, the team posted a total of 147 for 8 against Rajasthan Royals, ending up on the losing side in a low-scoring game at Mullanpur.