Bengaluru, June 11: Shikhar Dhawan, who made a hundred against Australia at the Oval, might have to sit out of the next few matches of the ICC World Cup 2019 with a suspected hairline fracture on his left thumb. However, Dhawan will stay with the team till a final emerge on the status of his injury.
"Team India opening batsman Mr Shikhar Dhawan is presently under the observation of the BCCI medical team. The team management has decided that Mr Dhawan will continue to be in England and his progress will be monitoredl," the BCCI confirmed.
Dhawan had gone to Leeds to undergo scans on his finger after being hit with a short ball by Pat Cummins while batting against Australia. If he indeed sits out, then Dhawan will miss at least two matches against New Zealand on June 13 and against Pakistan on June 16.
And in the eventuality of him being ruled out, India will have to get ICC technical committee permission to avail a replacement. If he is going to miss just two matches, then India have the option of asking KL Rahul to open the innings and draft in either Dinesh Karthik or Vijay Shankar as No 4.
But if Dhawan indeed gets ruled out, then BCCI will have to ask for replacement and they have Ambati Rayudu and Rishbah Pant in reserves with the latter standing a better chance to board flight to London. But they can also look for a replacement outside the reserve list and players like Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane, who is currently in England, could come into contention because they can bat at No 4 while KL Rahul getting promoted as an opener.