Team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar briefs the media ahead of India vs NZ match, on Wednesday. (Source: Twitter)A hairline fracture on Shikhar Dhawan’s left thumb has ruled him out from India’s next few matches which include New Zealand (June 13), Pakistan (June 16) and Afghanistan (June 22). However, a final decision on his availability will only be taken after 10 to 12 days during which he will be under strict observation.
On the eve of India vs New Zealand match, on Wednesday, Indian team’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar briefed the media and updated on Dhawan’s injury.
Assistant Coach, @ImSanjayBangar throws light on @SDhawan25‘s injury status ⛑️ #TeamIndia #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/G8dcaQCUTF
— BCCI (@BCCI) 12 June 2019
Bangar also informed that Pant is being summoned so that he can train with the team and be match-ready in case Dhawan is ruled out of the tournament.
“As far as Shikhar is concerned, we are observing him and it will take some time, around 10 or 12 days to figure out where he stands,” Bangar said on the eve of the game against New Zealand here.
“We will be in a better position to take a call then because we don’t want to rule out a precious player like Shikhar, straight at the time of the injury,” he added.
Dhawan, who suffered a thumb injury during the 36-run win over Australia was hit on his left thumb by a delivery from Nathan Coulter-Nile early in his innings and needed medical attention. Dhawan was clearly struggling after receiving the blow but had gone on to score a sublime ton. He was eventually out after scoring 117 off 109 balls. He, however, had not come out to field at all with Ravindra Jadeja taking his place in the field.
.@RishabPant777 is on standby for Shikhar Dhawan – @ImSanjayBangar 🗣️🔊 #TeamIndia #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/uuZTcRmoJ2
— BCCI (@BCCI) 12 June 2019
Sanjay Bangar confirmed that KL Rahul “automatically moves to the top” in the absence of Dhawan while the team will assess the few options for no.4.
“The advantages of playing in various situations is that you understand the game a lot better. If you are batting in the middle order and suddenly you go and bat in the top order, then you know how challenging it can be, wherein you need to negotiate two new balls but you also understand that there are all these boundary opportunities,” Bangar said when asked how challenging it is to suddenly open the innings.
Citing former India captain Rahul Dravid’s versatility as an example, Bangar hoped KL Rahul could excel in a similar manner.
“So if a player is able to do that — and if you look across the history of the game, players have been very versatile, and here if you take (example of) his namesake Rahul Dravid back at the various positions, actually, it helped the team big time,” he explained.
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Meanwhile, India will definitely be desperate to see Dhawan recovering as quickly as possible. Dhawan is not only in good form at the moment but has also a fantastic track record in the ICC tournaments.
Dhawan was the top scorer in the last two Champions Trophy held in England. He was also India’s highest run-getter at the last World Cup.
