Punjab Kings will potentially be without the services of their captain Shikhar Dhawan for two matches of the ongoing IPL as the experienced opening batter is nursing a shoulder injury.
Confirming the development, PBKS head coach Sanjay Bangar said it looks likely Dhawan will be out of action for seven to 10 days.
Dhawan also missed PBKS’ Saturday night clash with Rajasthan Royals, a match that went down to the wire.
“Unfortunately, we missed out on having Shikhar (tonight) because he has a shoulder injury,” Bangar told reporters. “So, he’s likely to be out for a couple of days games I would say. Having an experienced opener, somebody like Shikhar, who has experience of playing on such wickets, becomes extremely crucial for the team.”
“We’ll have to wait and see how he responds to the treatment, but at the moment it seems that he could be out of action for at least seven to 10 days”, he added.
PBKS’ top-order, especially their openers have failed to get going this season. Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow haven’t been able to provide the launching pad for the PBKS middle-order to build on and it has often fallen down to their lower-order batters to bail them out.
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Bangar admitted it’s a concern for the franchise that has now lost four of their six matches this season.
“Certainly is a cause for concern that the top order is not making enough runs for us. They are trying hard – I am not saying that they are not applying themselves – but it’s just not coming,” Bangar said.
“Low-scoring games, especially at Mullanpur, the way the wicket is… that also is a factor. Because if you see, some of the scores have been pretty low. All the three games that we have played here, in the first six overs, with the new ball, the wicket tends to just jag a little bit, and uneven bounce as well. So maybe that is also a contributing factor because, not only us, the visiting teams and their top order are facing issues,” he added.
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