When Will Liam Livingstone Return: Shikhar Dhawan Provides IPL 2023 Update for PBKS All-Rounder

It was in Punjab Kings second-last match that captain Shikhar Dhawan had broken Dwayne Bravo‘s 14-year old infamous record of facing most dot balls in an Indian Premier League match.

Dhawan, who had single-handedly guided PBKS to 143/9 in 20 overs after they were reduced to 88/9 in 15 overs, had faced 31 dot deliveries in comparison to Bravo’s 30 from back in the day. The left-handed batter was subsequently adjudged the Player of the Match for scoring 99* (66) against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

In their latest match, Kings, as a team, faced 56 dot balls to end up scoring 153/8 against Gujarat Titans at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium last night. Unlike Bravo playing for Mumbai Indians (against Punjab) in 2009, PBKS lost both their matches which comprised a substantial number of dot balls for the modern-day T20 format.

“We have to rectify that thing going forward. If you see the number of dot balls, if a team plays 56 balls, you end up losing the game. Losing early wickets puts you on the back foot and we need to work on that,” Dhawan admitted their fault during a post-match chat with host broadcaster Star Sports Network.

When Will Liam Livingstone Return?

Having slipped to the sixth position on the points table after losing two back-to-back matches, Kings haven’t helped their brilliant start to the ongoing 16th season of the IPL. Appearing to be the most confused team with respect to using an Impact Player, Punjab are also experiencing consequences of the individual absence of England‘s Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone‘s absence.

While Bairstow won’t take any part in the season, Livingstone joined the franchise only before yesterday’s match. Having said that, it was astonishing to see him not play in Mohali.

“He came for practice yesterday [Wednesday] but pulled his muscle. So maybe another 3-4 days and he should be good to go,” Dhawan provided an update with respect to Livingstone’s fitness status.

If Livingstone really needs 3-4 days to recover from a muscle pull, it is quite likely that he will miss PBKS’ next match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium tomorrow as well.