IND vs NZ: "I'm Not Afraid Of Losing The Role": Shikhar Dhawan Said In Response To A Question About Captaincy Before The IND vs NZ ODIs

Shikhar Dhawan, one of the most famous players in the Indian Premier League (IPL), recently took over as the franchise’s captain from opener Mayank Agarwal.

When the Asian giants toured Sri Lanka in 2021 with their reserve team, veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was named India’s captain for the first time.

Dhawan is likely to take over for the forthcoming One Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand as Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli have been granted a break from the entire tour as India continues its leadership shift in the limited-overs format following the T20 World Cup 2022. India won the T20I series 1-0 under Hardik Pandya’s leadership.

One of the most well-known figures in the Indian Premier League (IPL), stand-in skipper Dhawan recently took over for opener Mayank Agarwal as the team captain of the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Agarwal was discharged by the Punjab-based team on the deadline day before the mini-auction scheduled for next month after his batting performance while captaining PBKS took significant damage in the lucrative competition.

“I don’t want to put that load on myself”: Shikhar Dhawan

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo about his leadership positions at Team India and PBKS, the newly-appointed IPL heavyweights skipper stated that he is not concerned about losing the captaincy.

“No worries, jobs come and go. We enter the world with nothing and leave with nothing. This is all that remained). I’m not concerned about losing my job. (Because) I’m the captain, I don’t want to put that burden on myself by saying, “OK, I have to do it this way or that way.” I’ll just play the game according to our team’s aims, what the team demands, what it requires, “Dhawan stated.

PBKS acquired white-ball maverick Dhawan at the IPL mega auction with INR 8.25 crore. 460 runs were blasted by the senior hitter in 14 games, averaging 38.33 during his maiden season with the PBKS team. In 206 IPL games, the 36-year-old has accrued 6,243 points.

Dhawan will want to lead the Men in Blue to another series victory before becoming the helm of the PBKS team in the IPL in 2023. On Friday, the Dhawan-led Team India will play the first ODI against New Zealand.

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