Shikhar Dhawan, the Indian opener, has been ruled out of the remainder of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 owing to a fractured thumb he sustained during the match against Australia, it was confirmed on Wednesday (June 19).
The 33-year-old opener who had scans on his left thumb in Leeds, remained with the Indian side as per the management’s decision while being under the observation of the BCCI medical team. However, with his injury needing a longer recovery time, he won’t take further part in the tournament.
“Following several specialist opinions, he’ll be in a cast till mid-July and is ruled out of the World Cup. Dhawan’s fracture is at the base of the first metacarpal on his left hand,” Sunil Subramaniam, India’s team manager, said. “We’ve requested for Rishabh Pant as a replacement.”
Dhawan sustained the injury during India’s second World Cup game, struck by a rising bouncer from Pat Cummins. Although he managed a century in that match, he was seen receiving treatment from physio Patrick Farhart on the same day, and didn’t come out to field in the second innings. He was later spotted in the dressing room with an ice pack over his thumb.
In Dhawan’s absence, KL Rahul had opened in the game against Pakistan and is set to continue in that role with the left-hander’s campaign coming to an abrupt end. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant, who was earlier roped in as standby, is set to be added to the Indian squad with the management having requested the ICC to approve the change to the squad.
Earlier, Pant – who also auditioned amongst others as a potential No. 4 for India – had narrowly missed out on a World Cup berth to Dinesh Karthik when India’s 15-man contingent was formally announced in late April, with the selectors showing a preference for the senior’s superior wicket-keeping skills.
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