“Unsung hero” - Fans erupt as PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan scores his 50th half-century in IPL

Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shikhar Dhawan once again led from the front, this time against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Monday, May 8.

The 37-year-old scored 57 off 47 balls at a strike rate of 121.28, including nine boundaries and one six. He also shared a crucial fifty-run partnership with Jitesh Sharma to help PBKS recover from 53/3 as wickets continued to tumble at the other end.

Vaibhav Arora eventually caught the southpaw at long-on off KKR skipper Nitish Rana's bowling in the 15th over.

The left-hander also became the only third batter to complete his record 50th half-century in the T20 tournament, only behind David Warner and Virat Kohli.

Fans express delight at Shikhar Dhawan’s consistency in the ongoing IPL 2023. One user tweeted:

For the uninitiated, Dhawan is Punjab’s leading run-scorer in the tournament despite missing out on three games due to an injury. The left-handed batter has scored 349 runs in eight games so far at a strike rate of 143.62, including three half-centuries.

PBKS retained the opening batter for ₹8.25 crore ahead of the IPL 2023 mini-auction. He was also announced as their new captain following his heroics with the bat during the IPL 2022 campaign, where he amassed 460 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 122.67, including three half-centuries.

It’s worth mentioning that Dhawan is one of the most consistent batters in the IPL. He is the second-highest run-getter (6583 in 214 matches) only behind Kohli (7043 runs in 233 games).

Shikhar Dhawan’s fifty lifts PBKS to 179

A clinical batting performance from Shikhar Dhawan helped the Punjab Kings post 179/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Shahrukh Khan 21(8) and Jitesh Sharma 21(18) chipped in with handy contributions, while Rishi Dhawan and Harpreet Brar added 19 (11) and 17 (9), respectively.

For KKR, Varun Chakaravarthy emerged as the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 3/26. Harshit Rana picked up a couple of wickets, while Suyash Sharma and Nitish Rana scalped one wicket each.

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