Amidst anticipation and hope, former cricketer Brad Haddin has delivered a significant update regarding the fitness of Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan. Brad Haddin’s announcement carries weight, providing insight into Dhawan’s condition, and potentially shaping the team’s strategy and performance.
Former Australian cricketer, Brad Haddin, donned the baggy green for a successful international career. While his international retirement came in 2015, he continues to be involved in the cricketing world. Haddin’s career was defined by his aggressive spirit, both behind the wickets and at the crease. He was known for his acrobatic catches and sharp keeping skills, taking a staggering 262 catches and effecting 8 stumpings in Test matches alone. His batting was equally impressive.
Though not a prolific scorer, Brad Haddin often played crucial innings, particularly lower down the order, bailing his team out of tricky situations with his clean hitting. After years spent as the understudy to the legendary Adam Gilchrist, Haddin finally cemented his place in the Australian team in 2008. He went on to play 66 Tests, 126 ODIs, and 34 T20Is, amassing over 7,000 international runs and contributing significantly to Australia’s victories.
Post-retirement, Haddin transitioned into coaching. He served as the fielding coach for the Australian national team in 2018 and has also held assistant coaching positions with teams in the Indian Premier League, most recently with the Punjab Kings.
Dhawan had a decent start, scoring 152 runs in five matches with an average of 30.40 and a highest score of 70. However, during the home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9th, he sustained a shoulder injury while fielding. This forced him out of action and threw a wrench into Punjab Kings’ plans. The swashbuckling left-handed opener started the season as captain of the Punjab Kings, but his stint was short-lived.
Brad Haddin On Shikhar Dhawan
Punjab Kings (PBKS) assistant coach Brad Haddin has disclosed that the involvement of Shikhar Dhawan in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala on Thursday remains uncertain.
At the pre-match press conference, Brad Haddin said, “Shikhar will be assessed and then hopefully we can have some more positive news on him for the last couple of games. We will assess him when we get to Delhi. Fingers crossed.”
In the absence of skipper Shikhar Dhawan due to injury, Sam Curran has taken on the role of leading the side in recent matches. Haddin acknowledged that Dhawan’s injury has posed a challenge for Punjab this season but remains optimistic about the left-handed batsman’s potential return for the final two games.
“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,” he said.
As the playoff stage rapidly approaches, attention turns to the points table, where every team still harbours hopes of securing a coveted top-four spot. However, Brad Haddin emphasised that his side is adopting a focused, game-by-game approach to the competition. Following a recent 28-run defeat to Chennai Super Kings at the same venue, Punjab aims to bounce back with a win on Thursday, keeping their playoff aspirations alive.
“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.”
Expressing disappointment over the result in the previous game, Haddin said, “We thought we just started to play some good cricket. Our batters started to find some good form after Kolkata and Chennai. And it was disappointing. We thought we were just starting to get some momentum back in the tournament. To lose the way we did was disappointing.”
However, the former Australian cricketer lauded the contributions of young talents Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, highlighting their significant impact this season. Excelling in the lower-middle order, these two youngsters have showcased exceptional batting skills and played important roles in securing crucial victories for their respective teams throughout the season.
“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.
He further added, “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.”
He signed off by stating, “We go to Delhi after this game for a couple of days before we go to our next game in Guwahati.”