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Punjab Kings (PBKS) spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi on Wednesday gave a major injury update on Shikhar Dhawan and said that the skipper is currently in rehab.
In five matches of IPL 2024 so far, Dhawan has scored 152 runs at an average of 30.40, with a strike rate of 125.61. He also scored a half-century, with the best score of 80. However, the 38-year-old missed PBKS' previous game against RR due to a shoulder injury. While speaking at the pre match press conference ahead of their game against Mumbai Indians (MI), Joshi said that with Dhawan missing the upcoming game, Sam Curran will lead the Punjab-based franchise. "As far as an update on Shikhar Dhawan is concerned, the medical team will assess the situation and inform us. Now, he is in rehab. Sam Curran has been donning the Captain's hat for us in his absence. He was also the stand-in captain last year when Dhawan was injured, and he led the side well. So, we trust him completely," Joshi was quoted in a release from PBKS as saying. Earlier, after the defeat against RR, Cricket Director of PBKS Sanjay Bangar said that Dhawan suffered a shoulder injury and could be ruled out of the tournament for at least seven to ten days. He also hailed the bowling attack of PBKS and said that they have performed consistently in the tournament. "Bowlers win tournaments, batters win matches. Our bowling unit is doing consistently well in all areas. We have addressed that our top-order needs to bat well in the powerplay overs. But this is a challenging wicket for all batters, especially for the visitors, because the nature of bounce is completely different from all other surfaces. It gives us an advantage on this surface," he added. After winning two of six games in the ongoing T20 tournament, PBKS are standing in the seventh place on the standings with four points. PBKS will take on the Mumbai-based franchise in the 33rd match of the IPL 2024 at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Punjab Kings Squad: Sam Curran (C), Jitesh Sharma (Wk), Atharva Taide, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Nathan Ellis, Tanay Thyagarajan, Shivam Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Rilee Rossouw, Chris Woakes, Rishi Dhawan, Sikandar Raza, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh. (ANI)
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