Shikhar Dhawan has been appointed as the new captain of the Punjab Kings for IPL 2023: The IPL and franchise market are experiencing warm exchanges. Despite the mini-auction, big names are being transferred and traded. After Lockie Ferguson’s trade from the Titans to the Knight Riders, another big breaking news is that Shikhar Dhawan has been appointed as the new captain of the Punjab Kings.
Following the most recent board meeting on Wednesday (November 2), Mayank Agarwal has been demoted, and Shikhar Dhawan is the Punjab Kings’ new skipper for the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. It is said that Dhawan, who is currently captaining India in recent ODI matches, received support from Trevor Bayliss, the Kings’ new head coach.
The only players the Kings retained before the IPL mega-auction in February 2022 were Mayank and Arshdeep Singh. Before the 2022 season began, Agarwal was named captain, succeeding star batter KL Rahul. Anil Kumble, the head coach of the Punjab Kings, spent a significant sum of money—INR 8.25 crore—to secure Dhawan’s signature in the mega-auction.
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Kings, to Release Mayank Agarwal?
Apart from a new captain, coach, and support staff members, the Punjab Kings appear to be planning a significant makeover ahead of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League. The 2014 finalists are likely to let go of some big names to give themselves a big budget going into the auction in December.
According to a report on Cricbuzz, the Punjab Kings are interested in any two of Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, and Cameron Green; however, they will need a larger budget because there will be high demand for all three players. In order to do that, the Kings are prepared to let go of their captain from the last season, Mayank Agarwal, for $12 million; Shahrukh Khan, for $9 million; and West Indies all-arounder Odean Smith (6 crores). Kings will be expecting to have more than $30 million before the auction, with each of the 10 franchises being provided an increase of 5 crores.
Agarwal had only one fifty-plus score with the Kings in 2022 during his first season as the team’s captain. In order to make room for Jonny Bairstow as the opener, he moved down the order, but his batting performance remained poor. With 117 runs in 8 games, Shahrukh failed to justify his place in the lineup, while Smith also showed his expensive bowling, particularly in the second half of the season.
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