IPL 2022: Here is why Mayank Agarwal is not playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Punjab Kings will be looking to continue their winning momentum as they lock horns with the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on April 17. Both teams will be oozing with confidence having won their respective encounters against the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders respectively.

However, when the toss happened ahead of this afternoon fixture, it was the senior opener, Shikhar Dhawan who was seen alongside SRH skipper Kane Williamson instead of regular skipper Mayank Agarwal, which made many fans wonder why did Agarwal disappear suddenly.

Why is Shikhar Dhawan leading Punjab Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad?

The reason why Shikhar Dhawan has been roped in as the stand-in-captain for this contest is that Mayank Agarwal has suffered a toe injury, which forced him to miss this contest. Nonetheless, Dhawan has confirmed that the India Test specialist should be fit and available for the next clash.

“Mayank got hit on his toe, he should be fine for the next game. So, there’s just one change for us – Prabhsimran is in,” said Dhawan while speaking at the toss.

Nonetheless, the coin landed in favor of Williamson and he decided to have a bowl first. Meanwhile, Dhawan opened the innings along with Prabhsimran Singh but his stay at the crease did not last for too long and he was dismissed for just eight runs off 11 deliveries when he was caught by Marco Jansen off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the third over.

Mayank Agarwal has so far scored 94 runs from five matches at an average of 18.80 and a strike rate of 130.56 in IPL 2022. He scored a match-winning half-century in the last game against the Mumbai Indians where he laid a solid foundation for Punjab with a 32-ball 52 and was also involved in a 97-run opening stand with Dhawan, who scored a blistering 70 runs from 50 deliveries.