Kings XI Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan will not be available for his next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sam Curran, who has been leading PBKS in the past few games, will continue to lead the team. Dhawan is out due to shoulder injury.
PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin admitted that Dhawan’s injury was a setback for Punjab this season but expressed hope that the left-handed batsman would be fit to play in the final two games.
“In any team you are in, it is disappointing to leave the most senior player for a long time. I don’t have to sit here and tell you about Shikhar’s record in the IPL. He is the most successful player in the tournament. Opener,” Harding said.
“After this game we will go to Delhi for a few days before going to Guwahati for the next game. Shikhar will be evaluated and then hopefully we can get some more information about him in the last few games Positive news. We will evaluate him when we get to Delhi,” he concluded.
PBKS takes on CSK, eyeing playoffs
Punjab lost to Chennai Super Kings by 28 runs at the same venue last week and will be looking to get back to winning ways on Thursday to stay in contention for the playoffs.
“The discussion over the past few days has been about the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. If you look back at our last game, we were already in a position to win the game. We have to chase down 160-plus runs and so, yes, our main The focus is on making sure we get what we need out of that game and focus on that, there’s no need to worry about the next two games unless we perform well in this game.”
Harding expressed disappointment with the outcome of his last game.
“We thought we had just started playing some good cricket. After Kolkata and Chennai, our batsmen started to find some good form. It’s disappointing. We thought we had just started to regain some momentum in the tournament. Lost The way we went about it was really disappointing,” he said.
But the former Australia international praised youngsters Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma for their valuable contributions this season. The two young players have performed well in the lower and mid-level competitions and have already won some key victories for the team this season.
“I think Shashank and Ashutosh are outstanding. They are two young players who have grown up during the IPL. The most pleasing thing about these players is that they run under pressure. You will see players come in and score runs. But these two guys came out in tough situations and scored,” Hardin said.
“So, technically you have to be very good, their game awareness and recovery under pressure are very good. For two guys who haven’t had much experience with the IPL and its hype. So, yes, they are Two positive stories to start the season,” he further added.