Punjab Kings (PBKS) Head of Cricket Development Sanjay Bangar clarified the reason behind Jitesh Sharma not leading the side in Shikhar Dhawan's absence in the IPL 2024 match against the Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. He stated that Jitesh is not the designated vice-captain despite representing PBKS in the captains' meet before the tournament.
With Dhawan out with a niggle against the Royals in Mullanpur, Curran captained the side. Punjab tried their best to defend a modest total of 147, but Rajasthan prevailed in the final over of the innings with three wickets to spare.
Speaking at a presser after the match, Bangar felt it was better to have Curran as captain, given that he led the team in some matches in 2023 too. The 51-year-old revealed that Curran would have attended the event had he arrived from UK earlier. As quoted by Cricbuzz, he stated:
"Jitesh isn't the designated vice-captain and I think maybe the impression could have been so because he attended the captains' seminar at the start of the IPL. The thought was always to have Curran because he had led the team in the previous year as well."
"He was late to arrive from the UK and because he wanted to have few sessions, that's the reason we couldn't send him to Chennai for [briefing] and hence Jitesh was sent since the directive from the IPL [committee] was that a player has to attend."
Curran was disciplined with the ball, claiming figures of 4-0-25-2. However, his final over was the turning point as Rovman Powell smacked two consecutive boundaries before perishing.
"He could be out of action for 7 to 10 days" - Sanjay Bangar on Shikhar Dhawan
Bangar went on to reveal that Dhawan is likely to be out for at least two matches, elaborating:
"Unfortunately we missed out on having Shikhar [tonight] because he has a shoulder injury. So, he's likely to be out for a couple of days [games] I would say. 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."
The nervy three-wicket win was Rajasthan's fifth in six matches.
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