Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishab Pant has been asked to join the Indian team as a possible cover for opener Shikhar Dhawan, who injured his finger during India’s win over champions Australia at the 2019 ICC World Cup on last week.
The Delhi player is due to join the team in Nottingham on the eve of their match against New Zealand, a newspaper’s in the country reports. The Indian side will face the Kiwis on Thursday (June 13) with an hope to continue their fine start to the campaign. However, he will not be included in the 15-man squad as long as Dhawan is not ruled of the competition.
As far as Dhawan is concerned, the batsman stands ruled out for the game against New Zealand and it’s known that the team management is monitoring his progress and is expected to take a call on his availability in the coming days.
The BCCI in a statement said: "Team India opening batsman Dhawan is presently under observation of the BCCI medical team. The team management has decided that Dhawan will continue to be in England and his progress will be monitored.
"Dhawan sustained an injury on the back of his left hand in the region between the index finger and thumb during the league match against Australia on Sunday."
While the initial X-Ray didn't reveal any hair-line fracture on Dhawan’s finger, a CT scan later showed a hairline fracture.
As for the management, while the team is eager to see Dhawan back into the side, they are preparing for the worst too, in case the opener fails to recover from the blow. "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 is recovering. If all goes well, then we have a fully fit Dhawan towards the business end of the tournament and that's great. If not, we always have a replacement ready. We have got to be careful with how we chose our cards. It's obviously a huge blow. But then we have to live with it,” a source close to development told the newspaper.
Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Arun Sankar
