Brad Haddin, assistant coach of Punjab Kings, expressed uncertainty about Shikhar Dhawan’s participation against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, awaiting assessment and hopeful for a positive news.
PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin revealed uncertainty about Shikhar Dhawan’s participation in the upcoming IPL match against RCB due to an injury. Haddin expressed hope for positive news after assessing Dhawan in Delhi. Sam Curran has been leading the team in Dhawan’s absence.
Haddin acknowledged Dhawan’s injury as a setback but remains optimistic about his return for the final two games. He also emphasized Dhawan’s crucial role as the team’s senior player and IPL’s most successful opener.
“In any team that you are a part of, it’s disappointing to leave your most senior players for extended periods. I do not have to sit here and tell you about Shikhar’s record in IPL. He’s the most successful opener in this tournament,” Haddin said.
“The discussion over the last couple of days is about the match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. If you look back to the last match we played, we got ourselves in a position to win the game. We had to chase 160-odd runs and we could not chase it down. So yeah, our main focus has been making sure we work on what we needed to from that game and concentrate on that. There’s no point worrying about the next two after this unless we play well in this one,” he added.
Haddin further praised young players Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma for their crucial contributions this season, highlighting their ability to perform under pressure. He emphasized their growth throughout the IPL and their knack for scoring runs in tough situations, which has been instrumental in securing important victories for the team.
“I think Shashank and Ashutosh have been outstanding. They are two young players that have grown during the IPL. The most pleasing thing about those players is they’ve got runs under pressure. You see guys come in and then score runs. But these two have come in and scored runs in tough situations,” Haddin said.
“So, one technically you have got to be very good and their game sense and resilience under pressure has been good. For two guys that haven’t tasted much of IPL and the hype of it. So yeah, they have been two positive stories from the season. We go to Delhi after this game for a couple of days before we go to our next game in Guwahati,” he concluded.
Last Updated on May 8, 2024
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