Shikhar Dhawan, skipper of Punjab Kings will not be playing in the 21st match of IPL 2023 against Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday. Sam Curran is leading PBKS in Dhawan's absence. Dhawan sustained an injury in Punjab's previous match and therefore is out of the game due to a niggle.
"Shikhar picked up an injury last game, don't know how bad it is but hopefully he won't be out long. His absence is huge, we've got two Indian batters coming in and Raza is back in the XI. The conditions looks good," Curran said after winning the toss and opting to bowl.
In this 16th edition of IPL, Dhawan has played 4 matches so far and has scored 233 runs with the highest score of an unbeaten 99 runs. He has smashed 299 fours and 8 sixes. On the other hand, Sam Curran who was the most expensive buy (Rs 18.5 crore) at the IPL auction, scored 71 runs and has scalped two wickets so far.
"First game on this strip, anything would have worked. It is exciting to challenge ourselves on different conditions. It is our first season here, so each game we'll assess and modify. Every game we make a few changes, settle on a 12-13 and take a call depending on the game. Each game we have turned up and we have been challenged every time, but players have found answers," KL Rahul said during the toss
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mark Wood, Ravi Bishnoi
Punjab Kings Playing XI: Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
