WORLD CUP SCHEDULE

|

READ ALSO:

Team will wait for a week to take final call on Dhawan's injury. (Reuters Photo)

Team India opening batsman Mr Shikhar Dhawan is presently under the observation of the BCCI medical team. The team… https://t.co/XKSCPgvxoY — BCCI (@BCCI) 1560265541000

MUMBAI: According to sources, young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will leave for England early Thursday morning. Sources confirmed that Pant will be reaching England as cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan . The injured opener though will continue to be part of the 15-member squad as of now. Sources have also confirmed that the BCCI was trying to arrange the best possible flight for Pant so that he can join the Indian team in England at the earliest.POINTS TABLE"Rishabh is just being called here in advance as standby so that he can acclimatise. If Dhawan can't continue, we'll seek an official go ahead from ICC for replacement and he (Rishabh) can immediately join the team," sources in the know said.Pant will only be a part of the Indian 15, if and when Dhawan is completely ruled out.Shikhar Dhawan ruled out for next two games due to thumb fractureFrom apparels to his official luggage, everything has been handed over to Pant at his residence in Delhi.As for Dhawan, the team management is convinced that the left-hander should be allowed time to recuperate even it comes at the cost of missing a couple of matches or more."The scans have confirmed a hairline fracture. Doctors have given a tentative healing period. But the healing process is individual-specific and you can't tell overnight if he's going to be fine in 10 days or 15 days or more. But what you can certainly do is wait for a week and take a more assertive call," sources in the know told TOI."Look at it this way: Dhawan misses the matches against New Zealand and Pakistan but stays with the team. We get a fair idea of how he's recovering. If all's well, then we have a fully fit Dhawan towards the business end of the tournament and that's great. If not, we can always have the replacement ready. We've got to be careful with how we choose our cards," sources add. "This is obviously a huge, unfortunate blow. But then, we've got to live with it."Should a week's time reveal that Dhawan cannot continue, Pant will walk in to take KL Rahul's No. 4 slot while Rahul will open the innings with Rohit Sharma .However, as of now, while Rahul will take Dhawan's place alongside Rohit, the team management expects Hardik Pandya to bat up the order at No. 4 - like he did in the match against Australia - while Dinesh Karthik will be introduced in the batting line-up slightly down the order.Read this story in Bengali