Nottingham, June 12: Shikhar Dhawan might still nourish some hopes of taking further part in the ICC World Cup 2019. India's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar said on Wednesday (June 12) the team management does not want to rule out injured Dhawan just as yet because he is too "precious".
"We will take at least 10-12 days to take a call on Shikhar's condition. We don't want to rule out a precious player like him," Bangar told media ahead of India's third World Cup clash against New Zealand, even as Rishabh Pant has been named as Dhawan's standby.
Dhawan suffered his injury after being hit by a Pat Cummins delivery during his 109-ball 117 knock against Australia. While the X-ray didn't show any fracture, CT scan revealed otherwise and Dhawan was taken to a specialist for further assessment.
Rishabh Pant, who was initially ignored for Dinesh Karthik when the 15-member squad was picked, has been named as his standby and is expected to fly in to England as cover. However, it is unlikely that he will play directly in any matches as the team management will take a call in that direction only after getting a final word on Dhawan.
At this point, it has been said that Dhawan may attain full fitness by June 30. It means the left-hander will miss the matches against New Zealand (June 13), Pakistan (June 16), Afghanistan (June 22), West Indies (June 27) and possibly against England on June 30.
India will Bangladesh on July 2 and Sri Lanka on July 6 in their last two league matches.