He might be out of India reckoning in the World Cup year but veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan is leaving no stone unturned to complete his fairytale comeback into the white-ball squad of the Men In Blue. Playing another captain's knock in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Dhawan put up a fight against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match No.14 of the cash-rich tournament at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Dhawan, who was earlier castigated for his strike rate in T20 cricket, silenced his critics with a majestic knock against the 2016 champions. In a match where only two PBKS players managed to register a double-digit score, Dhawan played a valiant knock to help Punjab post a respectable total in the low-scoring encounter. The former Delhi Capitals (DC) opener smashed a quick-fire 99 off 66 balls as Punjab posted 143-9 in 20 overs. After Dhawan's unbeaten knock of 99, Sam Curran (22) was the second-highest run-getter for Punjab Kings against Hyderabad.
Known for his calm demeanour, Dhawan issued a noteworthy statement when the PBKS skipper was asked about his fighting knock at the post-match presentation. “I hope you were happy with my strike rate as you tweeted something. I can bowl googlies as well!,” Dhawan said after the match. The PBKS skipper was named the Player of the Match for his batting masterclass. However, Dhawan's memorable knock of 99 failed to rescue Punjab Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2023 as the former champions recorded their first win of the new season.
{{/usCountry}}Known for his calm demeanour, Dhawan issued a noteworthy statement when the PBKS skipper was asked about his fighting knock at the post-match presentation. “I hope you were happy with my strike rate as you tweeted something. I can bowl googlies as well!,” Dhawan said after the match. The PBKS skipper was named the Player of the Match for his batting masterclass. However, Dhawan's memorable knock of 99 failed to rescue Punjab Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2023 as the former champions recorded their first win of the new season.
{{/usCountry}}Talking more about the match, Aiden Markram's unbeaten knock of 37 off 21 balls and Rahul Tripathi's brilliant 74 off 38 balls sealed Hyderabad's 7-wicket win over Dhawan's men at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Reflecting on Punjab's performance against the former IPL champions, Dhawan blamed the misfiring batting unit for their 7-wicket loss to the Hyderabad-based franchise.
“As a batting unit, we lost too many wickets back to back and couldn't put up a big total on the ground and because of that we lost the game. 175-180 would have been a reasonable score. The wicket looked quite good but it was seaming and swinging. Of course it was disappointing (seeing wickets keep falling) but the way we thought the wicket was going to play, it was playing differently. It was seaming and sometimes keeping low. But that's a learning process for my batting unit and that's fine,” Dhawan said.