Shikhar Dhawan's Hard-Hitting Shot Forces PBKS Star Teammate To Retire Hurt. See Pics

05.04.2023 - 15:57 sports.ndtv.com

Punjab Kings had a great start in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 game against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Prabhsimran Singh scored a 34-ball 60 as PBKS cruised. After Prabhsimran departed in the 10th over, PBKS' Sri Lankan recruit Bhanuka Rajapaksa arrived at the crease.

But he could last only one ball die to a strange reason. In the 11th over, Dhawan slammed a hard shot off Ravichandran Ashwin and the ball hit the forearm of Rajapaksa's right hand.

The SL batter looked to be in pain and left the field. Shikhar Dhawan's shot straight went to hit Bhanuka Rajapaksa on his forearm on the right hand.Not a great sign for Punjab Kings.#CricTracker #RRvPBKS #BhanukaRajapaksa #ipl #TATAIPL2023 pic.twitter.com/7r1fQbnW94 Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to field first against Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday.

cricket Rajasthan Royals Shikhar Dhawan Punjab Kings India Sri Lanka county Kings Kolkata Hyderabad Sanju

Punjab Kings will have to wait for another two to three days on the availability of regular captain Shikhar Dhawan, which puts him a doubtful starter for Saturday's clash against Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Dhawan sustained a shoulder injury during Punjab Kings' match against Gujarat Titans on April 13. Despite missing two matches since then, he is still among the top five most prolific batters this season with 233 runs in four matches at 116.50.

Shikhar Dhawan's Injury On Punjab Kings' Mind As They Take On Royal Challengers Bangalore

Punjab Kings (PBKS) would be sweating over skipper Shikhar Dhawan's injury at a time when they need all their firepower against an extremely tough but luckless Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Thursday. Dhawan, 37, who is one of the bright spots in the PBKS team, was ruled out against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 15 in Lucknow due to a shoulder injury and England all-rounder Sam Curran marshalled the side during their two-wicket win at the Ekana Stadium.

IPL 2023: Big Blow For Punjab Kings As Shikhar Dhawan Misses Game vs Lucknow Super Giants - Here's Why

Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of Punjab Kings' Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 encounter against Lucknow Super Giants due to injury on Saturday. The PBKS skipper suffered a niggle during the last match against Gujarat Titans and he was replaced by Sam Curran as the captain. PBKS is at the sixth position in the points table with a total of four points and two wins and two losses in four matches. LSG is at the second position with six points, three wins and a loss in four matches. Atharva Taide makes his IPL debut with PBKS. Curran won the toss and opted to field at the Ekana Stadium.

IPL 2023: Shikhar Dhawan On Verge Of Beating Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma To Achieve Massive Feat

Shikhar Dhawan is on the verge of creating history in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 and a fifty-plus score against Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday will take him ahead of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in an elite list. The Punjab Kings skipper has 49 half-centuries in the tournament till now and he can become the first Indian batter ever to score 50 fifties in IPL. While Kohli has 47 half-centuries till now, Rohit has only 42. Dhawan has been enjoying a tremendous run of form in IPL 2023 till now with two fifties in three matches and the onus will be on him to provide a good start to PBKS.

"Would Not Appreciate...": Hardik Pandya's Firm Message To Teammates After GT's Last-Over Win Over PBKS

Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya on Thursday urged his batters to be a bit more adventurous in the middle overs, in their upcoming Indian Premier League matches. Defending champions GT registered a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings after Mohit Sharma's (2-/18) excellent return to the IPL and opener Shubman Gill's 49-ball 67. However, the game got quite close at the end with GT completing a chase of 154 with a ball to spare, something Hardik did not appreciate.

"Khalifa Of IPL...": Ex-India Batter Praises PBKS Skipper Shikhar Dhawan For His Captaincy

Punjab Kings suffered a big defeat against SunRisers Hyderabad in their previous IPL 2023 match. Asked to bat first, PBKS batters failed to perform as they were reduced to 88/9 in 15 overs. The only saving grace for the team was their skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who stood like a one-man army right from the beginning and took their total to 143/9 in 20 overs and remained unbeaten at 99 off 66 balls. Later, SRH comfortably chased down the target in just 17.1 overs. Apart from this, Dhawan has already scored 225 runs in three matches and is currently the orange cap holder for this season.