Opener Shikhar Dhawan was batting on 24 when a Pat Cummins bouncer hit him on the left hand. He finished with 117 against Australia. (File) Opener Shikhar Dhawan was batting on 24 when a Pat Cummins bouncer hit him on the left hand. He finished with 117 against Australia. (File)

Team India’s World Cup campaign suffered a major jolt on Wednesday as opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the tournament due to a thumb injury. Rishabh Pant has been brought in as a replacement of Shikhar Dhawan. The opener suffered a hairline fracture during his match-winning 117-run knock against Australia at The Oval on June 9.

“Shikhar Dhawan has a fracture at the base of the first metacarpal of his left hand. He will remain in cast until mid-July which rules him out of ICC World Cup. We have requested Rishab Pant as the replacement,” said Team India Manager Sunil Subramaniam.

An official request has been made to replace Shikhar with @RishabPant777 in the World Cup squad #TeamIndia #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/WqXptyspSm — BCCI (@BCCI) June 19, 2019

In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul had opened India’s innings with Rohit Sharma against Pakistan. Rahul was impressive in that match scoring 57 and sharing a record 136-run stand for the 1st wicket.

India has had a great start to their World Cup campaign. They have won against South Africa, Australia, and Pakistan while the game against New Zealand was washed out. India faces Afghanistan next on June 22 before they take on West Indies, hosts England, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

With six centuries, Shikhar Dhawan is one of India’s most prized assets in ICC tournament. He has scored three tons each in Champions Trophy and in World Cup. Along with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Dhawan forms a formidable top-3.

What perhaps prompted the team management to finally make an announce Dhawan’s injury was the fact that even Bhuvneshwar Kumar sustained an injury during the Pakistan match.

India would have had only 13 players to choose from against Afghanistan if Pant was not brought in as a replacement. Bhuvneshwar is out of three matches with a hamstring niggle.

“Bhuvneshwar is being assessed by team physio Patrick Farhart,” team’s trainer Shankar Basu said.

Rishabh Pant approved as a replacement player

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 has approved Rishabh Pant as a replacement player for Shikhar Dhawan in India’s squad for the remainder of the tournament, a statement from the global body said.

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