Punjab Kings is set to have a new leader for the next season of IPL. The franchise has appointed Shikhar Dhawan as the new skipper of the team. Dhawan will replace Mayank Agarwal in the captaincy position from the IPL 2024 season. The team recently had a coaching transition as Trevor Bayliss replaced former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble as Punjab’s head coach. And now, the side has upgraded Dhawan’s position in the side.
Shikhar Dhawan joined Punjab Kings in the 2022 edition of IPL as Punjab made their first bid on the opener in the mega auction. The opener performed impressively for the side under Agarwal’s captaincy. However, the backup ODI captain of India has impressed the management along with the newly appointed coach Bayliss. And consequently, the management has promoted the 36-year-old to a higher position within just a season with the team.
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Shikhar Dhawan Set to Lead PBKS
Dhawan has never really witnessed a dull season in the IPL. Before joining Punjab in 2022, Dhawan played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad who traded him from Delhi Capitals. In 2020, Dhawan maintained a spectacular strike rate of 145 scoring as many as 618 runs as the opener for the Capitals. For the Kings, Dhawan delivered many notable performances in the 2022 season scoring 460 runs in total at a strike rate of over 122.
The now former Punjab skipper, Mayank Agarwal, however, struggled in scoring for the team in the last season. In his maiden season as the captain of a franchise, Agarwal scored a mere 196 runs in total. Agarwal has been with the Kings since 2018 who retained him ahead of the 2022 mega auction. While the franchise has moved ahead with a new captain, they’re not expected to let go of the Karnataka star as yet. As for the IPL 2024, this is just the beginning as the retention window opened till November 15 is sure to bring more surprises.
