Not Shikhar Dhawan! Mayank Agarwal likely to be named Punjab Kings' captain ahead of IPL 2022 - Report

Mayank Agarwal is set to become the next captain of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise. The announcement is likely to be made very soon. Mayank was the only capped player retained by the Punjab franchise before the mega auction. While it seemed to be a contest between Mayank and Shikhar Dhawan -- whom the franchise roped in the mega auction -- for the top post, the right-hander is almost certain to succeed his good friend and former Punjab captain, KL Rahul.

"In all likelihood, Mayank will captain the side. The announcement is expected later this week. Dhawan is a welcome addition to the side and was always on the radar at the auction. He is a champion player but it seems Punjab were keen on Mayank as captain ever since K L Rahul left the team," an IPL source told PTI.

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Mayank had joined the franchise back in 2018. In IPL 2020 edition, he amassed 424 runs at a whopping strike-rate of 156.45 whereas he ended with 441 runs, with 4 half-centuries, at a strike-rate of 140.44 in last year's IPL season. 

Talking about Shikhar, he was roped in by the team management for a whopping INR 82.5 million (INR 8.25 crore) in the mega auction. Being a senior player, and a former full-time captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), there were talks that he might pip Mayank for the top job. However, the Punjab franchise seems to have zeroed in on Mayank.

Punjab Kings' squad for IPL 2022: Mayank Agarwal, Prerak Mankad, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Benny Howell, Baltej Singh, Ansh Patel, Liam Livingstone, Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, Odean Smith, Raj Bawa, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Sandeep Sharma, Nathan Elis, Vaibhav Arora, Ishan Porel, Rahul Chaha