Punjab Kings appoint Shikhar Dhawan as new captain ahead of IPL 2023

Punjab Kings have officially announced that Shikhar Dhawan will be leading the franchise in the upcoming IPL 2023 campaign. Dhawan takes over the captaincy from Mayank Agarwal who was appointed the Mohali-based IPL team's captain last year after the IPL 2022 mega auction. 

The franchise co-owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta confirmed the development through their official Twitter handle. 

PBKS tweeted, "We are happy to announce Shikhar Dhawan as captain of Punjab Kings," along with a heart emoji. 

In a separate tweet, they further wrote," Gabbar will be at the Shikhar for Punjab Kings. #SherSquad, welcome your new Skipper, Jatt ji!" 

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Gabbar will be at the for Punjab Kings!#SherSquad, welcome your Skipper, Jatt ji! #ShikharDhawan #CaptainGabbar #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings @SDhawan25 pic.twitter.com/BjEZZVVGrw

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) November 2, 2022

Dhawan had scored 460 runs for the franchise in IPL 2022 campaign, finishing the season as his team's highest run-scorer. 

More recently, he has been leading the Indian ODI team, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, and will again be in charge of the ODI squad when the Indian squad will tour New Zealand later this month after the World Cup. 

For the unversed, Punjab Kings had finished sixth in IPL 2022 standings, narrowly missing out on a playoffs berth, and since then, they've also welcomed new coach Trevor Bayliss, who takes over from Anil Kumble.