The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Wednesday, approved wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant as a replacement for injured batsman Shikhar Dhawan in India’s World Cup squad for the remainder of the tournament. Rishabh Pant had arrived in England last week as a cover for Dhawan as the team-management kept Dhawan under observation.
Dhawan had injured his finger during the game against Australia. The southpaw, who scored a sublime ton in that game, was struck by a Pat Cummins bouncer. Scans revealed a hairline fracture but the team decided to give some more time to the opener. However, the BCCI medical team, in their latest assessment, found out that Dhawan is unlikely to recover anytime soon.
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“Dhawan has a fracture on the base of his first metacarpal on his left hand. Based on several specialist opinions, he will remain in a cast till mid-July, which rules him out of the World Cup. We have requested ICC to allow Rishabh Pant to be as a replacement,” India team manager Sunil Subramaniam said in a press conference.
Consequently, Rishabh Pant was added to the squad. BCCI in a statement said that the Event Technical Committee of the World Cup approved the replacement. The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.
Missing Dhawan will be a big blow for Team India. Dhawan is not only in good form at the moment but has also a fantastic track record in the ICC tournaments. Dhawan was the top score in the last two Champions Trophy held in England. He was also India’s top run-scorer at the last World Cup.
With Dhawan out of action now, KL Rahul looks set to open alongside Rohit Sharma in the upcoming games. In his absence, KL Rahul opened against Pakistan and did well by scoring 57 as India won the game by 89 runs.
The Men in Blue will next take on Afghanistan on June 22 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton