Shikhar Dhawan traded to Delhi Daredevils, SRH say he moved due to ‘financial reasons’

DD have had a torrid time in recent years and finished at the bottom of the points table in the 2018 season of the cash-rich league.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan is back with Delhi Daredevils after plying his trade for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last few seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL). DD have had a torrid time in recent years and finished at the bottom of the points table in the 2018 season of the cash-rich league.

File image of Shikhar Dhawan.

Dhawan, who was retained by the Hyderabad franchise in the last IPL auction after using the Right to Match (RTM) card, has been traded by the franchise. Sunrisers have in return received three players from the Daredevils.

The franchise took to Twitter and said, “We have traded Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Daredevils for Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma. We thank Shikhar for his contribution to the team over the years and wish him the very best.”

In a press release the franchise also mentioned that Dhawan was “unsettled ever since with the amount he was bought for in the auction.” The release further stated that the franchise is “saddened that due to financial reasons” Dhawan has decided to move on.

Batting was a serious issue for the Delhi outfit last season with skipper Gautam Gambhir failing as an opener and finally quitting captaincy mid-season. The Daredevils had finished with just 5 wins from 14 games and new coach Ricky Ponting wasn’t too pleased with the performance of the team.

Since then, a lot of things have changed as JSW Sports inked a deal with GMR Group — original owners of DD — for equal partnership in the IPL franchise.

“GMR Group today announced that it has entered into an agreement with JSW Sports for a 50:50 partnership in GMR Group’s Cricket franchisee “DD” owned by GMR Sports Private Limited (GSPL). GSPL is owned by the Promoters of the GMR Group,” Daredevils had issued a press release.