32-year-old Rishi Dhawan returned to the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Punjab Kings (PBKS) after six seasons away from the tournament. He is in the team that is playing against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He made his debut in the cash-rich league in 2013 and played for the erstwhile Kings XI Punjab (now PBKS) the last time as well. Although he didn’t get to bat in the game, the all-rounder made headlines with the ball for wearing a mask while bowling for the side.
He wore a mask which left many wondering the reason for the same. For the unaware fans, Dhawan played in the Ranji Trophy before the IPL began and got hit on his face during the second round of matches. He was also taken to hospitals for scans. For the same reason, he was unavailable to play in the first four matches for PBKS.
The medium-pacer underwent surgery on his nose after the injury and to protect it from further damage, he is understood to be using the mask while bowling. Dhawan was seen using the mask even in the nets. PBKS posted a video on their official Twitter handle ahead of the game against CSK, where Dhawan revealed the reason for his absence from the initial part of the IPL.
Dhawan had played his last IPL game back in May 2016 and made his comeback after a gap of almost six years. He has been in very good form in the domestic circuit as well and was in reportedly also contention to play for India too during the home season earlier this year. Looking at his form, PBKS secured his services for an amount of Rs 55 lakh at the IPL mega auction.
The 36-year-old, who has also turned out for Mumbai Indians, managed to make his comeback memorable as well picking up the wicket Shivam Dube of in the second over of his spell as CSK try to chase down a total of 188.
