'True captain's knock' - Twitter lauds Shikhar Dhawan's lion-hearted 99* amid collapse against SRH

The 14th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 saw the 2016 season champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) take on the Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, April 9.

Led by Aiden Markram, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to field first. Coming in to bat, Punjab had the worst possible start to the game as Prabhsimran Singh was dismissed on the very first ball of the game. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was expected to perform, and the ace Indian pacer did just that, sending Prabhsimran back to the pavilion on a golden duck.

Disaster struck for the visitors in the very next over as Matthew Short was dismissed after scoring just one run. After losing quick wickets in the first innings, Punjab Kings never seemed to recover. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan did show resilience and played a mature knock when wickets kept following on the other end.

After the fall of the first wicket, Punjab Kings brought in their impact player as Prabhsimran Singh was subbed out and Sikandar Raza was brought in. However, Raza was unable to do much as he was sent back to the pavilion for just five runs.

Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, and Marco Jansen wreaked havoc on Punjab, worsening the situation for the Punjab-based franchise. However, Dhawan’s performances was the one positive aspect of Punjab Kings’ first innings. The veteran Indian batter scored an unbeaten 99 off just 66 deliveries and helped Punjab post 143 runs after horrid performances by the rest of the batters.

On the back of a thrilling victory against Rajasthan Royals, Punjab look keen on registering their third consecutive win of the season. However, after a dismal performance with the bat, it could be quite a challenge for the team to comeback in the second innings and defend a rather weak total. 

Here's how Twitter reacted to Punjab Kings' first innings:

Irfan Pathan@IrfanPathan

Captain’s knock ki asli Paribhasha @SDhawan25 👏 👏

09:19 PM · Apr 09, 2023

44224

चिरकुट ज़िंदगी@chill_babu

Man this Shikhar Dhawan has my respect. Dear BCCI, we have an ICC tournament ahead 👀 #SRHvsPBKS #IPL2023 #ShikharDhawan

09:16 PM · Apr 09, 2023

11

Lisa Sthalekar@sthalekar93

Shikhar are right now!!

09:16 PM · Apr 09, 2023

1122

𝐒 𝐰 𝐚 𝐫 𝐚@SwaraMSDian

Sikhar Dhawan vs SRH

09:23 PM · Apr 09, 2023

53

supremo `@hyperKohli

If Shikhar Dhawan is not gonna play this year's ODI wc than Rohit sharma and selectors should be sacked ASAP One of the Greatest IPL knock ever, well played Gabbar ❤

09:23 PM · Apr 09, 2023

6915

Rajneesh Gupta@rgcricket

Amazing how Shikhar Dhawan shielded no. 11 Mohit Rathee, making him face only 2 balls while facing 28 balls himself. Shikhar took a single off last ball of 16th, 17th and 18th; and off fifth ball of the 19th ensuring he'd be facing the first ball of next over! #PBKSvSRH #IPL2023

09:25 PM · Apr 09, 2023

63

Nikhil 🏏@CricCrazyNIKS

I'm glad that the Hyderabad crowd still remembers me. Yes, one of the best I have played: Shikhar Dhawan. #TATAIPL

09:23 PM · Apr 09, 2023

10713

Punjab Kings@PunjabKingsIPL

99* Way more than a hundred for us! 🤩👏 #SRHvPBKS #ShikharDhawan

09:21 PM · Apr 09, 2023

79492

Dhawal Kulkarni@dhawal_kulkarni

ShiKhar Dhawan you beauty !! 💯 #PBKSvSRH #AJioMatchCentreLive #TATAIPL2023 #IPLinMarathi #IPLonJioCinema

09:26 PM · Apr 09, 2023

234

Kris Srikkanth@KrisSrikkanth

That is one of the finest knocks by a player in IPL history @SDhawan25 ! To score a 50+ partnership with the no.11 shows what this man is made up of! @SunRisers will be kicking themselves for giving away so many unwanted runs! #SRHvsPBKS twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

09:24 PM · Apr 09, 2023

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Harbhajan Turbanator@harbhajan_singh

What an inn jatt ji @SDhawan25 👌 class kaptaaan sahb @PunjabKingsIPL @IPL @StarSportsIndia

09:22 PM · Apr 09, 2023

57722