Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan was on Wednesday ruled out of the ongoing World Cup matches and was replaced by young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, after failing to make enough recovery in a fresh assessment of his thumb fracture.
Dhawan, 33, picked up the injury on his left thumb during the June 9 clash against Australia and was initially ruled out of three games — against Pakistan (June 16), Afghanistan (June 22) and the West Indies (June 27).
“Shikhar Dhawan has fractured the base of the metacarpal (bone) of his left hand. His hand will remain in cast till mid July which rules him out of the ICC 2019 World Cup,” team’s administrative manager Sunil Subramanium told mediapersons.
Rishabh Pant Pant comes in with an accumulated ODI experience of five matches but is considered a trump card owing to his fearless cricketing approach.