Kings XI Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan may be out for at least 7 days with a shoulder injury, Sanjay Bangar, head of cricket development, said after the narrow loss to Rajasthan Royals to 10 days. Dhawan missed Saturday night’s game against Royals. Sam Curran leads the team in his absence. “He’s got a shoulder injury, so I would say he’s probably going to be out for at least a few days. Having an experienced opener, someone like Shikhar, who has the experience of batting on wickets like this, becomes Extremely important (for the team).
“We have to wait and see how he responds to treatment. At the moment it looks like he may be out for at least seventy days,” Bangal said at his post-match press conference.
Jitesh Sharma represented the team in the early-season captain’s meeting, while Dhawan, who had a fever, stayed in Mullanpur.
With that in mind, Curran’s withdrawal from the game was surprising, but Bangal clarified that they had always been clear about the Englishman’s role out wide.
“No, no, he (Jitesh) is not the designated vice-captain. This impression could be due to his participation in the captain’s seminar at the start of the IPL.
“But the idea was always… because Sam had led the team the previous year as well; he arrived late from England and he wanted to take some (training) sessions and that’s why we couldn’t send out. So, Jitesh was sent out Chennai, as the directive is that players must attend.
“That is not the case, Jitesh is the stand-in captain. We know very well in our minds that if there is a vacancy, Sam Curran will take over and assume the captaincy,” said the former India batting coach.
Both Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow failed to give the team a good start, which led to an inconsistent performance in the tournament.
Atharva Taide, Dhawan’s replacement in Saturday’s game, was also unable to do anything against Royals.
Bangal agrees this is a problem.
“Of course, the concern is that the top order isn’t giving us enough runs. They’re trying – I’m not saying they’re not trying – but it’s just not coming.
“The low-scoring games, especially in Mullanpur, the way the wickets were taken… that was also a factor. Because if you see, some of the scores were pretty low.
“All the three games we’ve played here, in the first six overs, with the new ball, the wickets tend to be a bit jagged and bounce unevenly. So maybe that’s a contributing factor as well because, not only us, but also the visiting teams and their top order are facing problems.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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