Dhawan to lead Punjab Kings in IPL 2023; Agarwal’s retention unlikely

After hiring a new coaching management to helm the IPL 2023 journey, Punjab Kings are set to have a new skipper for the season as well, with Mayank Agarwal making way for veteran Shikhar Dhawan. The decision to make Dhawan the captain was taken in a board meeting on Wednesday, and that has now put Agarwal’s spot in the side in jeopardy. 

Dhawan, who joined Punjab Kings after the mega auction of 2022, is the most experienced player in the side and had previous captaincy experience with Sunrisers Hyderabad before David Warner took charge from him. Him being elevated to captaincy will also see Dhawan pairing with Trevor Bayliss, Punjab Kings coach, as the duo had worked for Hyderabad franchise in the past.

In all likelihood, Karnataka opener Agarwal will be released from the squad and be up for grabs in the auction, scheduled to take place on December 16.

Agarwal first joined Punjab from Delhi in 2018 and he alongside Arshdeep Singh was retained by Kings ahead of the mega auction. However, his form dipped soon after and he could only manage just 196 runs in 13 matches at an average of 16.33.

Franchises have time till November 15 to submit the full list of released players and hence, the names will start to be up on the media releases from now onwards. Even though Kings paid Agarwal 12 crores last season, releasing him would mean an 14 Crore free budget.