Shikhar Dhawan to return to Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2019

Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan is reported to join Delhi Daredevils for the 2019 season of Indian Premier League. The left-hand batsman currently plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad and he will be traded for three Indian players, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, and Abhishek Sharma.

Shikhar to join Daredevils after 11 years 

The opening batsman represented Delhi Daredevils in the first season of IPL in 2008 but in the next season featured for Mumbai Indians. He then had a short stint with Deccan Chargers and finally moved to Sunrisers Hyderabad whom he is representing since 2013.

However, according to reports in an online cricket portal, the Indian batsman is unhappy with his price tag and hence Sunrisers are trading him off with Delhi. In the auctions of 2018, Hyderabad didn’t retain Dhawan but bought him back using the right to match card at a price of 5.2 crores.

Delhi to release three players in exchange of Dhawan 

Delhi would have to pay dearly to bring back Dhawan in their team. The franchise will be releasing three players, all Indians, Vijay Shankar (INR 3.2 cr), Nadeem (INR 3.2 cr) and Abhishek Sharma (INR 55 lakhs).

The total worth of these three players is 6.95 crores while Dhawan’s price tag is 5.2 crores. Hyderabad will pay the remaining amount in cash.

Dhawan’s IPL career

Delhi who has performed poorly in the last few seasons of IPL is looking to add strength to their team and Dhawan’s addition could make their top-order more powerful.

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Dhawan’s success at Hyderabad has been largely overshadowed by the skipper David Warner’s prolific run. The Indian opening batsman is Hyderabad’s leading run-scorer with 2768 runs from 91 innings. He averages 35.03 with a strike-rate of 125.13.

He was effective in the 2018 season of the IPL as well and amassed 497 runs at 35.50. His partnership with Warner has proved to be fruitful for the franchise as the duo has scored 2357 runs which makes them the third-most prolific pairing in IPL.