Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of World Cup for 3 weeks due to thumb injury

What's the story?

Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup because of the thumb injury that he sustained in the match against Australia. His fractured thumb will keep Dhawan out of action for the next 3 weeks.

The background

Shikhar Dhawan is known to have an excellent record in ICC tournaments. He had won the Golden Bat award in Champions Trophy 2013. The left-handed opener also played a huge role in India's success at the 2015 Cricket World Cup and Champions Trophy 2017. The fans had high expectations from him and Gabbar did not disappoint them as he scored a match-winning century versus Australia on Sunday. However, he had injured his thumb in the same match.

The heart of the matter

Dhawan had undergone a scan on Monday and the reports of the scan revealed that the left-hander has suffered a fracture on his thumb.

Since his thumb will take 3 weeks time to heal, he will not be able to play India's upcoming World Cup games against New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, West Indies and England. This could force the Indian team to replace Dhawan in the squad.

KL Rahul can open the innings for India in case they do not decide to name a replacement for Dhawan. Rahul has good experience of playing in English conditions and he has looked in good form this year.

In case the team wants to continue KL Rahul as a middle-order batsman, they will have to pick a new opening partner for Rohit Sharma. According to India Today, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer are the front-runners to replace Shikhar Dhawan in the World Cup squad.

What's next?

The Indian team is expected to brief the media on Shikhar Dhawan's injury this afternoon (BST) at Nottingham.

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