IPL 2022: Kaif brands PBKS' Dhawan as 'T20 ka Khalifa'; says should play T20 World Cup

Punjab Kings (PBKS) explosive batter Shikhar Dhawan has proved his mettle in the IPL 2022; the Indian opener scored an unbeaten 88 runs off 59 balls against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

Indian opener and Punjab Kings (PBKS) star Shikhar Dhawan has been in sublime form this Indian Premier League (IPL). The explosive batter proved his mettle in the tournament again when he smashed an unbeaten 88 runs off 59 balls against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

Following this stellar batting show by Dhawan, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif heaped praises upon the batter and handed him a unique title of 'T20 ka Khalifa', comparing him to Dubai's iconic Burj Khalifa.

Taking to Twitter, Kaif opined that if Dhoni is known as 'Thala' and Kohli is called 'King', then Dhawan is the 'Khalifa' of the game's shortest format. He went on to add that the PBKS batter should be included in India's squad for the T20 World Cup to be played in Australia later this year.

"Dhoni Thala hai, Kohli King hain aur Shikhar? 6000 IPL runs, delivering under pressure, he is T20 ka Khalifa. He should play T20 World Cup. Don't ask me where, if I was selector, I would tell you," Kaif tweeted.

Dhawan, who played for Delhi Capital (DC) for three seasons after being traded from SunRisers Hyderabad, was bought by the Punjab franchise for Rs 8.25 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction in February.

The PBKS star's knock helped his side post a challenging total of 187, and the Yellow Army fell short by 11 runs.

Expressing his views on his knock, Dhawan said, "Once I get set, I can get those boundaries. That's what I bank on. While batting first, it's about putting pressure on the bowlers and getting boundaries. We don't have to lose too many wickets; that was our conscious effort." 

"I have become a senior in the team (laughs). I give a lot of input to the players and my captain on the field. The youngsters think a lot, sometimes they overthink, so I try to communicate with them. I talk about the law of attraction and how to achieve big in life," Dhawan added after the match.