"Something has got to give"- Former NZ cricketer on PBKS replacing captain Mayank Agarwal with Shikhar Dhawan

Former New Zealand cricketer Danny Morrison understands the decision from the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to appoint Shikhar Dhawan as their new skipper and release Mayank Agarwal ahead of the IPL 2023 season.

Agarwal was named the captain of the team just last year but had a poor season with the bat, scoring 196 runs from 13 games. PBKS also ended up finishing in a disappointing sixth position despite having big names in their ranks.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Danny Morrison explained how demanding the task of captaincy is in the modern game. He said:

"Look with Mayank, these guys are experienced and sometimes it's difficult to captain different teams in different formats, it puts a lot of pressure. Something has got to give. So one may say that 'look I am a Test specialist, I am only going to focus on red ball or a bit of ODI cricket.' So then the captaincy comes to the guys who can think quickly and adapt to the changes quickly. So I don't mind that change (Dhawan for Mayank)"

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PBKS have retained their core for IPL 2023

Although they have released Agarwal, Punjab's batting looks pretty much sorted with Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow at the top. The likes of Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, and Shahrukh Khan form an explosive top six.

Having released quite a few Indian bowlers, Punjab will be keen to strengthen that department and even look at an all-rounder if possible. They will be keen to discard the tag of underachievers and try to win that elusive maiden IPL title.

PBKS Retained Players: Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Shikhar Dhawan, Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, and Harpreet Brar.

PBKS Released Players: Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Mayank Agarwal, Sandeep Sharma, and Writtick Chatterjee.