Shikhar Dhawan scored 373 runs in 11 innings this season.Image Credit source: BCCI
Dharamshala: The beginning of the IPL 2023 season was better for the Punjab Kings, but gradually the team’s vehicle derailed. The result is that Shikhar Dhawan’s team is out of the playoff race. There can be many reasons for this condition of the team and in this the performance of captain Shikhar Dhawan himself is also a big reason, who started strongly like the team but after one incident, his performance also fell badly.
In his last match of this season against Rajasthan Royals in Dharamshala, Captain Dhawan started in a bang. He first hit a four and after one ball he also hit the best six. It seemed that Dhawan would end the season with the best innings but it did not happen. In the sixth over, Dhawan was dismissed by leg-spinner Adam Zampa after scoring just 17 runs.
Dhawan’s form changed in the middle of the tournament
In this way, this season ended with another failure for Dhawan. Dhawan played only 11 matches this season. In these 11 matches, 373 runs came out of his bat. Average 41 and 3 fifties. He could not play 3 matches due to injury. This injury also became the reason for the decline in Dhawan’s performance.
In fact, Dhawan started the tournament in a very vigorous manner. The Punjab captain scored 233 runs in the first 4 matches, including big innings like 86 (not out) and 99 (not out). He averaged 116 in these 4 innings.
Then he got hurt and it changed everything. After returning from injury, Dhawan could not continue this rhythm. After his return, in the next 7 innings, Dhawan could score only 140 runs at an average of 20, which included only one half-century.
Dhawan made mistakes even in captaincy
Apparently, Dhawan’s failure in the top order can also be considered as the reason for Punjab’s condition. By the way, not only with the bat, but also with his captaincy, Dhawan disappointed a lot. Especially in the last 2-3 matches, the way they used their bowlers was shocking. In the last match against Delhi, despite bowlers like Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada, Dhawan made spinner Harpreet Brar bowl, which cost the team dearly.
