Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the World Cup for at least three weeks due to a fractured thumb. Dhawan had injured his thumb while batting against Australia in India’s previous match. He went on to score a hundred but did not field.
Broadcasters Star Sports have confirmed that Dhawan will definitely be sitting out of India’s next clash against New Zealand on Thursday in Nottingham.
He is most likely to miss almost all of the group stage matches including the ones against New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, West Indies and England.
The opener suffered the injury in the ninth over of the Australia game when on 24 he was hit by a rising Pat Cummins delivery. He immediately looked in discomfort and called for the physio but carried on seemingly unperturbed. However, as a precautionary measure, he did not come out to field and was taken for scans on Monday.
Dhawan has been a key player for India especially in ICC tournaments where he has recorded six centuries since first turning up at the 2015 World Cup. He did not have the best of starts against South Africa this time around falling for 8 but more than made for it against Australia. It was his innings that set base for India’s massive 352/5. In reply, Australia fell short by 36 runs.
India are unbeaten so far in the tournament with comfortable wins over South Africa and Australia. They next face New Zealand in Nottingham on Thursday before their marquee clash against Pakistan on Sunday.
