Shikhar Dhawan's IPL fortunes are fluctuating with each passing day. After reports that he was miffed with Sunrisers Hyderabad over his price tag, he was linked with Mumbai Indians owing to his camaraderie with Rohit Sharma.
However, as per the recent report in Mumbai Mirror, the left-hander has been now linked with Delhi Daredevils. This comes days after Kings XI Punjab had expressed their interest in signing up the southpaw, but the deal could not see the light of the day. The Kings XI management had apparently come very close to signing the left-hander but they have already informed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the negotiations fell through.
SRH got him in the previous auctions using the RTM card
Dhawan, who was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 5.2 crores, was offered 1 crore more by Kings XI Punjab and offered to trade Karun Nair in return. However, the same report also mentioned that now Delhi Daredevils have offered the left-hander a higher price which could have tilted the balance of the trade.
In other reports, Kings XI Punjab have also traded Marcus Stoinis to Royal Challengers Bangalore and have acquired the services of Mandeep Singh. Stoinis, who was retained by Punjab last season, could not quite get going was snapped up by RCB as they search for a finisher and good decent bowler this season. The Australian has played 19 matches in his IPL career so far, amassing 262 runs at an average of 23.81 and has picked up 13 wickets.
However, it will be interesting to see what role Mandeep is given in Punjab since they already have a number of Indian players vying for both the top order and middle order roles.
Brad Hodge has also been reportedly been removed as Punjab's head coach. He has been replaced by former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson.
Hesson enjoyed a good tenure with New Zealand as he was in charge of proceedings when the Kiwis made it through to the finals of the 2015 World Cup and were a formidable Test unit in home conditions.
