The big bad news is that opener Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the entire tournament due to a metacarpal fracture in the left hand.
“Several specialist opinions have revealed that Shikhar Dhawan has sustained a fracture at the base of his first metacarpal of the left hand. His hand will remain in a cast till mid-July which rules him out of the rest of the ICC World Cup 2019,†team manager Sunil Subramaniam announced at a Press conference at Hampshire Bowl on Wednesday.
He said the Team India management has “written to the ICC’s technical committee seeking a replacement and Rishabh Pant will be the person covering Dhawanâ€.
After being left out of the 15, Pant had been flown in last week and had joined the team to train in Manchester where India played against Pakistan and won by 89 runs.
In the late evening proceedings, ICC approved Pant’s inclusion into the Indian squad.
Dhawan, however, was seen playing football with the team at nets just before the announcement was made and seemed to be relaxed and reconciled to his fate. He had just made a return to form after a wishy-washy inaugural against South Africa in the opening game. He scored a scintillating 127 runs in the second game against Australia at The Oval where a Pat Cummins rising delivery hit his hand and did him in. The player, known to have a high pain tolerance level, continued to play 20 more overs after his fracture and mid-field first aid.
After the match, assistant coach Sanjay Bangar had said the team would not like to lose a fiery opener like Dhawan and had decided to wait for two weeks before taking a final decision with follow-up scans. Dhawan attended all practice sessions, taking jogs of the stadium and playing football with the boys on most occasions.
India’s mega opening worries were, however, settled down by KL Rahul who has since been promoted up the order from No 4. He made a solid 57 against Pakistan in his newly accorded position. He contributed to a record 136-run opening partnership with Rohit Sharma. Rahul’s form and determination at the top of the order would have Pant waiting in the wings for now and give Kohli a little less angst about Shikhar's absence.
Though Team India’s strength and conditioning coach Shanker Basu said later in the day that fitness was the newest and most potent tool of the current Indian squad, and that the Indian team has the becoming record of the lowest injury rate despite playing double the amount of cricket that other teams, Kohli and the management have their concern caps on for Bhuvneshwar Kumar who sustained a “hamstring stiffness†during the match against Pakistan. He had to leave the field without completing his over and the ball was given to Vijay Shankar who took Imam Ul Haq's wicket in his very first delivery of the World Cup.
Bhuvneshwar has been ruled out for at least two matches, maybe three, which means against Afghanistan, West Indies and England. At nets on Wednesday, the pace bowler took three rounds of the field along with the support staff, not jogging but walking.
Mohammed Shami, meanwhile, bowled consistently during training to Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. “Bhuvi is a huge concern but Shami is fit and raring to go,â€Kohli had said at Manchester after packing off Pakistan.
