PBKS were led by Sam Curran for their game against Rajasthan Royals yesterday (April 13) after captain Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out due to a shoulder injury. Coach Sanjay Bangar confirmed after the game that it could be a potentially longish break for Dhawan as he might be required to sit out for the next week or so.

“He’s having a shoulder injury, so he is likely to be out for at least a couple of days, I would say,” Bangar said in the post-match press conference after the PBKS-RR game in Mullanpur. “Having an experienced opener, somebody like Shikhar, who has experience of playing on such wickets, becomes extremely crucial. We have to wait and see how he responds to the treatment. At the moment, it seems that he could be out of action for at least seven-ten days.”

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Over the next week, Punjab Kings are scheduled to play two matches – against Mumbai Indians on April 18 and against Gujarat Titans on April 21, both at home. Dhawan has been their highest run-scorer so far, with 156 runs at an average of 30.4 and a strike rate of 126. With Jonny Bairstow not being in any form whatsoever, Dhawan’s presence at the top of the order becomes all the more important.

Against Rajasthan, they replaced him with Atharva Taide, the left-hander from Vidarbha who made a mark for PBKS last year. In his first game of IPL 2024, Taide scored 15 off 12. Last year, he played seven games and struck at 144. Currently languishing at eighth place, Punjab would want him to continue his form from last year and provide the kind of stability at the top that Dhawan usually does.