Dhawan ruled out of World Cup, Pant to replace him

India’s biggest nightmare has come true. Opener Shikhar Dhawan, such a vital member of the setup has failed to recover from his thumb injury and has been ruled out of the 2019 World Cup. Rishabh Pant who was on standby in England will replace him in the squad.

Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of India's #CWC19 campaign with a broken bone in his hand.

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— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 19, 2019

Dhawan was hit on the thumb by a Pat Cummins delivery while batting against Australia. He was treated on the field for the blow but went on to slam a commanding century to help India to a big victory. The initial assessment was that he would be out for a period of three weeks but the management decided to keep him around in order to get him fit for the final stages of the tournament.

Dhawan has an exceptional record in the ICC tournaments, with six centuries to his name. He has been one of India’s most consistent performers, forming a formidable top-three with Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli.

With him being ruled out of the tournament, KL Rahul who initially was a part of the squad as a reserve opener will continue to bat at the top of the order. He looked promising in the match against Pakistan, scoring a patient half-century.

Vijay Shankar who batted at No.4 in the game against India’s eternal rivals is likely continue to feature in the team, after his good all-round show in the match. Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are likely to act as the reserve batters in the squad and will be called up in the circumstance of another injury or squad rotation.

Nonetheless, the loss of their star opener was not the news which the Indian team management wanted to hear heading into the crucial stages of the tournament.