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Can Punjab Kings Win IPL Trophy Under Shikhar Dhawan Captaincy?

Shikhar Dhawan is one of the top IPL batsmen and he will lead a franchise for the 2nd time in his league career

Posted Date: Nov 04, 2022

Posted By: Joy

Can Punjab Kings Win IPL Trophy Under Shikhar Dhawan Captaincy?
Can Punjab Kings Win IPL Trophy Under Shikhar Dhawan Captaincy?

IPL franchise Punjab Kings has made yet another change to their captaincy by appointing the left-hander opener Shikhar Dhawan as the new skipper of the side who will replace Mayank Aggarwal. Dhawan will lead the side from the 2023 edition.

Shikhar Dhawan is the 3rd captain appointed by Kings in 2 years. After KL Rahul was traded with the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants, Mayank Agarwal was appointed as the captain in the IPL 2022. Punjab Kings retained Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh for this year and revamped the rest of the team including the purchase of Shikhar Dhawan for INR 8.25 crore.

Dhawan was in his usual splendid form in the IPL 2022 but the team couldn’t do well and finished the league stage at the 6th spot on the table. The questions started raising on the leadership again which also resulted in Agarwal’s dipping form.

Shikhar Dhawan IPL Career

Dhawan has been part of the league since its first edition in 2008. He was signed by Delhi Daredevils and ended the first season as the 3rd leading run scorer of the team. After that he played for Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad then Delhi Capitals before Kings signed him this year.

He has captained Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 but was removed from captaincy before the following season. He has captained in 11 IPL matches (10 for Sunrisers 1 for Kings) out of which he lost 7 and won 4.

As far as his form is concerned, Shikhar Dhawan is currently the 2nd highest run scorer of the Indian Premier League after Virat Kohli. In 206 IPL matches, Dhawan has smashed 6244 runs at an average of 35.08 and a strike rate of 126.35.

Take a look at Shikhar Dhawan’s form in the last 5 seasons of the IPL

Year Matches Runs Highest Score Average Strike Rate
2022 14 460 88* 38.33 122.67
2021 16 587 92 39.13 124.62
2020 17 618 106* 44.14 144.73
2019 16 521 97* 34.73 135.67
2018 16 497 92* 38.23 136.91

Shikhar Dhawan As Captain

Shikhar Dhawan has been seen recently leading the Indian ODI side in many series in the absence of full-time skipper Rohit Sharma. Dhawan has a 75% win record as captain in 8 ODIs and 33.33% in 3 T20Is.

Dhawan is also appointed as the captain of the upcoming 3-match ODI series against New Zealand.

Can Shikhar Dhawan Hand Punjab Kings Its First IPL Trophy?

The big question is how effective this move by Kings will be, to help them to clinch the first ever IPL title.

Dhawan doesn’t have a decent record as captain in the IPL but there is a possibility for the Kings to turn things around this time.

Punjab Kings has certainly done a pretty good revamp this year bringing in a strong force of quality players like Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Odean Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow.

With such strong force, this definitely looks like a title worthy team but they need a strong leader who can use such resources in the correct way.

Shikhar Dhawan is an experienced player and understands the game quite well. He also attracts a prominent presence in the international circuit as well. With him at the top, the Kings will definitely look forward to performing better than last season.

This will be a big challenge for Shikhar Dhawan leading an IPL side once again and things might be different this time for him as captain with all his recent experience as the part-time captain of the Indian side.