Veteran Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan was appointed as India’s stand-in skipper for the first time in 2021 when the men in blue toured Sri Lanka with their second-string side. With India continuously shuffling captaincy in the limited-overs format after the T20 World Cup 2022, Dhawan will once again be leading the ODI team against New Zealand as Rohit Sharma has been rested from the entire tour. India won the T20I series by a 1-0 margin under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya.
One of the biggest names in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Shikhar Dhawan recently replaced opener, Mayank Agarwal, as the captain of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise. Agarwal, whose batting performance while captaining PBKS took a massive hit in the cash-rich league, was released by the Punjab-based franchise on the deadline day prior to the mini-auction slated to take place next month.
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Speaking to ESPNCricinfo about his leadership roles at Team India and PBKS, Shikhar Dhawan said he has no fear of losing the captaincy. He said, “We come into the world empty-handed and leave empty-handed. All this just remains here). I don’t feel any fear about losing my job.”
He further added, “(Just because) I’m the captain, I don’t want to put that load on myself, saying ‘Okay, I have to do it this way or that way.’ I will just play the game based on our team goals, based on what the team demands, what it needs.”
PBKS bought these services of the white-ball maverick for INR 8.25 crore at the IPL mega auction earlier this year. The senior batter had amassed 460 runs in 14 games at an average of 38.33 during his first season at the PBKS franchise.
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In his IPL career so far, Shikhar Dhawan has amassed 6,243 in 206 matches. Before leading the franchise PBKS in IPL 2023, Dhawan will look to secure another series win as the captain of the Men In Blue. Dhawan-led Team India will meet New Zealand in the 1st ODI on Friday.
