'Lost Too Many Wickets': Shikhar Dhawan's Honest Verdict After Losing Against SRH

Shikhar Dhawan played a captain's innings (66-ball unbeaten 99) and powered Punjab Kings to 143/9 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Shikhar Dhawan in action.

Source : PTI

Sunrisers Hyderabad sealed their first win in the 2023 edition of IPL by defatting Punjab Kings by eight wickets on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Punjab’s skipper Shikhar Dhawan who scored a 66-ball 99 looked disappointed after his team’s loss and according to him, it was the batters who did not perform well.

“As a batting unit, we lost too many wickets back to back and couldn’t put up a big total on the ground and because of that, we lost the game. 175-180 would have been a reasonable score. The wicket looked quite good but it was seaming and swinging,” Dhawan said at the post-match presentation.

“I didn’t expect I will reach there at the end of the day but I was playing according to the situation, still keeping positive…

Punjab Kings won the toss and asked Sunrisers Hyderabad to bat first. Punjab kept losing wickets as spinner Mayank Markande (4 wickets for 15 runs) kept on trapping PBKS’ batters. But then Shikhar Dhawan played a captain's innings (66-ball unbeaten 99) and powered Punjab Kings to 143/9 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

In reply, Sunrisers’ batter Rahul Tripathi smashed a 48-ball 74 and helped his team win the match against Punjab Kings.

“Of course it was disappointing (seeing wickets keep falling) but the way we thought the wicket was going to play, it was playing differently. It was seaming and sometimes keeping low. But that’s a learning process for my batting unit and that’s fine.

“I’m very very grateful for 99 because I never thought I’d reach there so I’m very happy.”

This was Sunrisers’ first win in the ongoing edition of IPL. SRH skipper Aiden Markram was elated and said, “It was a bit rough for us at the start but we are happy to win today. I am super happy for Markande. He bowled really well tonight. He is only a couple of balls away from something special and he showed his class tonight.”