Former players Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen have backed Rishabh Pant as Shikhar Dhawan’s replacement (Source: PTI)Shikhar Dhawan’s fractured thumb has paved for Rishabh Pant’s entry into India’s World Cup squad. Pant will be joining the Indian team that next plays New Zealand. Before Pant’s inclusion, there was speculation over the names of Ambati Rayudu and Shreyas Iyer too. But former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen and Indian cricket fans on Twitter were hopeful for Pant who is one of the World Cup reserves ready to board the flight to England in event of an injury.
The scenario also inspired meme fest on Twitter:
Rishabh Pant waiting for BCCI call#ShikharDhawan #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/4ptezaems9
— Dhavan Kadia (@dhaone110) 11 June 2019
Rishabh Pant right now.. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/e3mruSM0gP
— Loveyouall_007 (@loveyouall_007) 11 June 2019
#ShikharDhawan
Risabh Pant standing outside of BCCI building.
BCCI: tum yaha kya kar rahe ho..??Risabh Pant: pic.twitter.com/jb00OzvU4L
— S H A H R U K H (@SaahRocks) 11 June 2019
Rishabh Pant rushing for his flight after hearing about Shikhar Dhawan 😉#CWC19 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/7ZNIvm0II7
— FlashScore.in (@FlashScore_IN) 11 June 2019
#ShikharDhawan#RishabhPant
With Shikhar Dhawan gone, BCCI to Rishabh Pant: pic.twitter.com/v71Sif41EY— Jagriti Gambhir (@iamjagriti_) 11 June 2019
Rishab pant Right now #ShikharDhawan pic.twitter.com/Lay3XlpLmv
— Aditya Swaraj (@aditya_tweets_) 11 June 2019
Shikhar Dhawan is out for 3 weeks due to thumb injury. #ShikharDhawan
Meanwhile Rishabh Pant. pic.twitter.com/mdMBTAgKVP— Lord Duffer-In (@British_Viceroy) 11 June 2019
Rishabh Pant Right Now After #ShikharDhawan Injury ! pic.twitter.com/RVZOJCoWgW
— Babu Bhaiya (@Shahrcasm) 11 June 2019
Ajynkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer in front of @BCCI office after #ShikharDhawan is injured and ruled out of tournament pic.twitter.com/jV40yOAZRu
— vaibhavbarange (@vaibhavbarange) 11 June 2019
Rishabh Pant, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey & Prithvi Shaw outside the BCCI Headquarters after #ShikharDhawan is ruled out from the world cup due to thumb injury.#CWC19 #WorldCup2019 @DennisCricket_ pic.twitter.com/hlhCS9qjjr
— Bilal Shahid (@BilalShahidRana) 11 June 2019
Rishabh pant right now : pic.twitter.com/gwYUBximZw
— jiteshrochlani (@jiteshrochlani) 11 June 2019
Back-up opener KL Rahul will open the innings against New Zealand on Thursday. If Pant gets called in, he is likely to bat in the middle order or be a back-up middle order batsman as Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik might get a nod ahead of him.
The reason being Pant not being the automatic choice in the playing 11 is his record in ODIs. The 21-year-old has played five ODIs and scored 93 runs at an average of 23.25. However, he was in sublime in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 for Delhi Capitals scoring 488 runs in 16 matches including three half-centuries.
