IPL 2024: Will Shikhar Dhawan play against RCB? PBKS assistant coach reveals

Shikhar Dhawan has been out of action since April 9, when he suffered an injury against SRH.

Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shikhar Dhawan has been out of action for a long time in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and it seems like he is set to miss a few more games for his franchise. PBKS had retained Dhawan as captain of the franchise for this season, but he has not played since suffering an injury on April 9.

Dhawan injured his shoulder against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9 while fielding during the match and since then, he has been on the sidelines as Sam Curran took over the charge in his absence.

But if Brad Haddin, the PBKS assistant coach is to be believed, then Curran’s stint as PBKS captain is set to be extended. Haddin, on the eve of the encounter against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Dharamsala, gave a not-so-positive update about Dhawan’s fitness.

PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin confessed Dhawan’s injury has been a blow for the squad this season, but he is hopeful the left-handed batter will be available for the remaining two games.

“In any team that you are a part of, it’s disappointing to leave your most senior players for extended periods. I do not have to sit here and tell you about Shikhar’s record in IPL. He’s the most successful opener in this tournament.

We go to Delhi after this game for a couple of days before we go to our next game in Guwahati. Shikhar will be assessed and then hopefully we can have some more positive news on him for the last couple of games. We will assess him when we get to Delhi. Fingers crossed,” Haddin said in the presser.

Brad Haddin says Punjab Kings focused on the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru as playoffs near

With the playoffs coming, all eyes are on the points table, which presently shows PBKS in ninth place. All teams still have a chance to secure the coveted top-four berth, but Punjab Kings assistant coach Brad Haddin stated that his squad is approaching the tournament one game at a time.

Punjab lost by 28 runs to Chennai Super Kings at the same venue last week and will look to rebound on Thursday to stay in contention for the playoffs.

“The discussion over the last couple of days is about the match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. If you look back to the last match we played, we got ourselves in a position to win the game. We had to chase 160-odd runs and we could not chase it down. So yeah, our main focus has been making sure we work on what we needed to from that game and concentrate on that. There’s no point worrying about the next two after this unless we play well in this one,” Haddin added.

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