IPL 2019: Delhi Daredevils look to snap up Shikhar Dhawan

A week back, reports had surfaced that India and Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Shikhar Dhawan was looking to move to the Mumbai Indians for the upcoming edition of the IPL. He was reportedly unhappy with his current franchise citing a low fee, and the SRH management was in talks to arrange a transfer for the left-hander to Mumbai. If the move had materialized successfully, Dhawan would have joined his Indian teammate and opening partner Rohit Sharma in the new setup, which would have come as a massive boost for the Mumbai Indians.

However, within a couple of days, fresh reports suggested that the Kings XI Punjab were in the race to buy Dhawan for IPL 12. The move to KXIP would see him open the innings with KL Rahul, who’s opened the batting with him in Tests on several occasions. But a week on since the initial reports, it seems he could return to his home team, the Delhi Daredevils.

Apparently, the Kings XI management had come close to signing him up on Friday, having also informed the BCCI regarding the transfers. However, the negotiations fell through at the last minute, following which KXIP have entered the race to rope in Shikhar Dhawan.

Sunrisers confirm Dhawan still part of their setup

Now that neither teams have been able to successfully negotiate the transfer, he could feature in the Delhi Daredevils setup next year. The JSW Group which is currently managing the Delhi franchise is offering a larger sum to the left-hander. He was bought by SRH for Rs 5.2 crore in the auction. Earlier, the Punjab franchise had offered to increase his price by Rs 1 crore and trade Karun Nair for him, but reports suggest the Delhi management has apparently placed a higher bid.

Meanwhile, the Sunrisers have confirmed that Shikhar Dhawan is still part of their setup. “We’ve not traded Shikhar. We may even keep him, we will see,” an SRH official was quoted as saying to Mumbai Mirror.

Dhawan had a contract with the Hyderabad-based franchise for the next three years but expressed his desire to end his stint with them. He had reportedly got into an argument with coach Tom Moody after he insisted on being retained by the franchise as the no.1 or no.2 player since he is one of the top four limited-overs players in the Indian team. Shikhar Dhawan was far from the Sunrisers’ biggest buy as they also retained David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Rs 12 and Rs 8.5 crore respectively.

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