Why are Shikhar Dhawan and Spencer Johnson not playing IPL 2024 Match 37 between PBKS vs GT?

Punjab Kings (PBKS) are about to take on Gujarat Titans (GT) in Match 37 of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh. Punjab’s stand-in Captain Sam Curran won the toss and elected to bat first.

They were once again without the services of their regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan who has been unavailable since their sixth game onwards against Rajasthan Royals (RR) due to a shoulder injury. PBKS’ assistant coach Brad Haddin recently revealed that the team is expecting Dhawan to be available for selection as soon as possible but didn’t mention his expected date of return.

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The southpaw is the third-highest run-scorer of his team so far with 152 runs to his name from five innings at an average of 30.40 and a strike rate of 125.61. In his place, Curran will continue to take up the leadership duties.

Apart from Dhawan’s absence, Punjab fielded the same XI as their previous fixture against Mumbai Indians (MI) which they lost by nine runs. On the other hand, Gujarat were forced to make one change in their playing XI as the left-arm seamer Spencer Johnson got ruled out due to a niggle.

In the five matches played so far in the season, Johnson has picked four wickets from five innings at an average of 37.75 and an economy of 9.43. He’s been replaced by all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai who’s scored 28 runs from two innings with the bat at a strike rate of 133.33 in the season so far.

With the ball, the right-arm seamer has picked four wickets from four matches at an average of 30.50 and an economy of 9.38. 

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