Revealed: Why Sam Curran is captaining Punjab Kings instead of Shikhar Dhawan vs LSG

Sam Curran is leading Punjab Kings against Lucknow Super Giants in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan.

Punjab Kings after two back to back defeats have suffered another setback before their important clash against Lucknow Super Giants. Punjab Kings' full-time captain Shikhar Dhawan is ruled out from the Playing eleven for the game against LSG at Ekana Stadium. In his absence, All-rounder Sam Curran will be leading the side against Lucknow. Dhawan is missing out on the action due to a niggle in his Shoulder. Shikhar Dhawan had a brilliant run with the bat for Punjab Kings. He is also currently the leader of the Orange Cap race.

Shikhar Dhawan to miss out on an important game

In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, English All-rounder Sam Curran won the toss and gave Lucknow a chance to set the target. Traditionally Ekana’s wicket has been supportive of slow bowlers. Talking about the absence of Shikhar, Curran said, “Shikhar picked up an injury last game, don’t know how bad it is but hopefully he will not be out for long. His absence is Huge”. Atharva Taide has been given the chance in place of injured Shikhar Dhawan. 

In the IPL 2023 so far, Shikhar Dhawan has been batting brilliantly. In a crunch game against Lucknow, this will be a major setback for the already struggling Punjab Kings batting. On the other hand, Lucknow Captain KL Rahul has also made a few changes in his team. Lucknow gave a debut for a pace bowler from Jammu, Yudhveer Singh. To get back on track, this game is an important one for Punjab. 

Punjab Kings Playing XI:

Atharva Taide, Harpreet Bhatia, Matthew Short, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (Wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran (C), Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI:

KL Rahul (C), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (Wk), Ayush Badoni, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi