With Shikhar Dhawan Out, Here Is How India Could Line Up In The World Cup

Just when everything was falling in place for Team India, they suffered a huge setback. The Men in Blue’s star opener Shikhar Dhawan is out of the World Cup due to a finger injury. The left-handed batsman suffered the severe injury during the clash against Australia when a bouncer hit his left thumb. He continued batting and went on to score a stunning ton but did not come out to field.

Scans have now revealed that Dhawan is unlikely to recover anytime soon and is thus out of the World Cup. Losing the in-form opener is a huge blow not because of his current form but because of his 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.

Also Read: Gautam Gambhir Backs Ambati Rayudu To Replace Shikhar Dhawan In World Cup Squad

Now India’s only option is to recover from the setback and move on as quickly as possible. The good thing for India is that the tournament is still in its early stage and the team has time to try out new openers. So the question is how can the Men in Blue lineup with Dhawan out of the tournament. Reports are suggesting that Rishabh Pant is on his way to England to join the World Cup squad.

In such a scenario, KL Rahul looks set to replace Dhawan at the top of the order. He is likely to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma. The incumbent Virat Kohli will bat at number three. The number fourth spot is the one which will give the team-management all sorts of headache. But with Pant set to be included in the side, he looks set to be the man for that spot.

Also Read: Rishabh Pant Set To Replace Shikhar Dhawan In World Cup Squad: Report

Vijay Shankar and Dinesh Karthik are good options but the team-management has showed it does not have much faith in them at the moment as they opted for KL Rahul to bat at that position. Preferring an opener at number four while snubbing two batsmen who were picked for that spot only makes it crystal clear that Vijay and Karthik do not feature prominently in the team’s plans.

Moreover, Pant had missed out on a World Cup spot because of his inexperience. Chief selector MSK Prasad had said that Karthik was picked because of his experience to deliver in pressure situations. However, Pant has allayed those fears by delivering in crunch situations during this year’s IPL where he scored more than 400 runs.

So for the time being, it looks like Rahul would open the innings while Pant would bat at number four and will be followed by the likes of MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav.