ICC World Cup 2019 | Shikhar Dhawan to Remain in England With No Replacement Named Just Yet

Nottingham: Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who sustained an injury on the back of his hand and thumb during India's World Cup game against Australia will continue to remain under observation in England and travel with the team, the BCCI confirmed.

"Team India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan is presently under the 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," a release from the BCCI read.

"Dhawan sustained an injury on the back of his left hand in the region between the index finger and thumb during the CWC 2019 league match against Australia."

Cricketnext understands that Dhawan underwent scans on his left thumb in Leeds and after a meeting between coach Ravi Shastri, skipper Virat Kohli, Bharat Arun and physio Patrick Farhart that lasted 20 to 30 minutes, the decision was made to not call in a replacement for the southpaw.

However, according to a report by news agency PTI, it is learnt that Rishabh Pant, whose omission from the original squad kicked up quite a storm given his brilliant form in the past one year, might be flown in as a cover, not replacement.

While there has been no official statement as to how long Dhawan will remain on the sidelines, it is understood he will for certain miss India's next two encounters against New Zealand and Pakistan.

Since India play Afghanistan on June 22 in Southampton, which is six days after the Pakistan game in Manchester on June 16, Dhawan will get at least 11 days time to recover. Even if Dhawan misses the Afghanistan game, the next match against West Indies in Manchester is on June 27, which gives him another five days' time to recover.

KL Rahul, who was originally selected as the backup opener, but has come in at No.4 in the first two games is likely to return back to partner Rohit Sharma at the top with either of Dinesh Karthik or Vijay Shankar to slot in two-down.

Dhawan was the star of India's win over Australia on Sunday with a knock of 117 off 109 balls.

He played through the pain after being hit on his left thumb by a rising delivery from pacer Pat Cummins. He did not take the field due to the injury during the clash post which he underwent scans.

Pant and Ambati Rayudu are on BCCI's official stand-by list but Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer's name is also doing the rounds as he is a specialist No.4 batsman.

The ICC does not have any specific stand-by list as such and anyone could replace a current player based on approval from the event technical committee.