Shikhar Dhawan is set to take over the captaincy of Punjab Kings from Mayank Agarwal in the 2023 edition of IPL.
While Agarwal was retained by the Kings, Dhawan was bought for Rs. 8.25 crore in the mega auction. In the 2022 season of IPL, Dhawan smashed 460 runs in 14 games with a strike rate of 122.66 and an average of 38.33.
The 36-year-old Dhawan has played 206 IPL matches and has scored 6244 runs with the highest score of 106. His average is 35.08 and has a strike rate of 126.35. The left-hander has smashed two centuries and 47 half-centuries in his IPL carrier.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the decision of Dhawan to replace Mayank was approved on Wednesday during a board meeting of PBKS and was backed by Trevor Bayliss, Kings' newly appointed head coach.
On the other hand, Agarwal joined the Punjab franchise in 2018. He scored just 196 runs in 13 matches at an average of 16.33 in the 2022 edition of the tournament.
In his IPL career, Mayank has played 113 matches and has scored 2327 runs with the highest score of 106 runs. He has an average of 22.59 and a strike rate of 134.28. He has smashed a century and 12 half-centuries so far.
Dhawan has been a captain in 11 matches of the IPL to date. Out of which ten were for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014 and one was for Punjab Kings in the previous season. He has registered four wins and seven losses under his captaincy.
Whether the Punjab Kings retain Agarwal or release him for the upcoming season, is something to watch out for.
All the Franchises have to submit a list of the players they want to retain for the next IPL.
