RR vs PBKS: Blow for Punjab Kings! Kagiso Rabada, Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of the remainder of IPL 2024

Punjab Kings' squad has been further depleted as Kagiso Rabada and Shikhar Dhawan have been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing IPL 2024.

PBKS are already out of the playoffs race and only have pride to play for. While they would have liked to bow out of the tournament on a positive note, their hopes have taken a big blow with the latest setbacks. Both Rabada and Dhawan will be missing the last two league games for PBKS this season.

According to the Times of India's Gaurav Gupta, Rabada is suffering from abscesses and will return home to recover. Rabada played in PBKS' first 11 games of the season before missing the last game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

The fast bowler is a part of South Africa's squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 and will be looking to recover completely soon. Talking about Rabada's performance in IPL 2024, he picked up 11 wickets in 11 games.

On the other hand, Dhawan has not played a game for PBKS since April 9. The senior batsman is sidelined with a shoulder injury and will not take any further part in IPL 2024. Dhawan has ended his campaign in IPL 2024 by playing five games and scoring 152 runs.

#breaking In big blow to the Punjab Kings pacer Kagiso Rabada and regular captain Shikhar Dhawan have been ruled out of their last two matches. Rabada is suffering from Abscesses, for which he will fly back to South Africa #IPL

— Gaurav Gupta (@toi_gauravG) May 14, 2024

Apart from Dhawan and Rabada, PBKS will also be without Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow as well as Sam Curran who was leading the team in Dhawan's absence. Livingstone recently announced that he would be leaving India for England to get his knee sorted ahead of the T20 World Cup.

On the other hand, Bairstow and Curran will be among the England players who will be leaving India this week to play in the T20 series against Pakistan. 

PBKS' run in IPL 2024:

PBKS struggled for consistency once again and failed to make the cut for the playoffs. It means they have not progressed ahead of the league stage since qualifying for the final for the first time in 2014. At present, they are languishing at the bottom of the points table with just four wins from 12 games. With two games left, PBKS will be looking to win both of them in order to avoid a last-place finish.