Kings XI Punjab are reportedly set to sign India opener Shikhar Dhawan from Sunrisers Hyderabad for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The rumours regarding Shikhar Dhawan’s switch to other IPL team refuses to die down. Just a few days ago, Mumbai Mirror had reported that Mumbai Indians are in negotiation with Sunrisers Hyderabad to sign the opener.
The report claimed that Dhawan is unhappy with the franchise and has already stated that he wants to leave. Dhawan’s contract will end after three years but the franchise would not really want to keep an unhappy player.
The outlet reported that one of the reasons behind Dhawan being unhappy was the fee he is getting from the franchise.
Dhawan reportedly wanted to be retained as the No. 1 or No. 2 player in the franchise. In such a case, his fees could have run into Rs 10-12 crore. However, the franchise released him before buying him back using the ‘right to match’ (RTM) card. His eventual price at the auction was Rs 5.2 crore.
The fees is considerably lower than what the likes of Virat Kohli (Rs 17 crore), Rohit Sharma (Rs 15 crore), MS Dhoni (Rs 15 crore) and several others are earning. Even the likes of Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 11.5 crore), KL Rahul (11 crore), Manish Pandey (11 crore), Glenn Maxwell (Rs 9 crore) and Krunal Pandya (Rs 8.8 crore) earn more than Dhawan.
And now The Times of India has reported that Kings XI Punjab have also thrown their hat in the ring to sign the unsettled player. Dhawan, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for an amount of Rs 5.2 Crore, could see his salary being doubled at Kings XI Punjab. The report also adds that he would be swapped with Karun Nair, who was bought by the Punjab-based franchise for an amount of Rs 5.6 Crore.
With the transfer window for the upcoming season set to end in few weeks, an official announcement regarding the same is expected to be made soon.