Shikhar Dhawan will play for Punjab Kings in IPL 2022.
Shikhar Dhawan, who was the first player to go under the hammer, was sold to Punjab Kings for Rs 8.25 crore during IPL 2022 auction Day 1 in Bengaluru on Saturday.
The Chandigarh-based franchise roped in the veteran opener after a bidding battle with Delhi Capitals.
Dhawan was in hot form ahead of the IPL auction and that's the speculations were ripe that he will fetch big numbers during the gala event.
He has been a reliable run-scorer in the IPL since the inception of the league, featuring for Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural season.
The 34-year-old left-hander came a long way since then scoring 5784 runs while playing all the editions and sitting second in the all-time top scorer of the league behind Virat Kohli (6283 runs). During this period, he played for Deccan Chargers/Sunrisers Hyderabad before returning home to rechristened Delhi Capitals.
Interestingly, Dhawan was bought by the Sunrisers for Rs. 5.2 crore, as they used a RTM (right to match) card. But he was traded off to the Capitals the next season, after scoring 497 runs in the season.
For Delhi, he continued his fine form with 500 plus runs consecutively in the last three seasons, which included two back-to-back hundreds in the 2020 season; making him the first batter to achieve such distinction in any franchise league.
Despite the display, Delhi opted against retaining the batter; forcing him into the auction pool.
Dhawan's overall IPL record: M 192 | R 5784 | HS 106* | Ave. 34.84 | SR 126.64 | 2x100s | 44x50s | 6s - 124 | Ct - 83
Dhawan's T20I record (since Jan 2021): M 4 | R 90 | HS 46 | Ave. 22.50 | SR 98.90 | 6s - 1
