Dhawan injured, but will stay put with team

Rohit Mahajan
AT THE WORLD CUP

Shikhar Dhawan, the thigh-slapping, moustache-twirling basher of the cricket ball, is in pain, and that has the Indian team in a big quandary.

Dhawan, the hero of India’s brute overpowering of Australia two days ago in London, is in danger of missing the rest of the World Cup due to a suspected left hand thumb fracture.

Dhawan had been hit on his hand by a short ball from Pat Cummins early on during his knock of 117 on Sunday, and it's suspected that he has suffered a hairline fracture. The team management has not given details of his injury, but has said that he is under observation and would stay in England.

“Mr Dhawan will continue to be in England and his progress will be monitored,” the BCCI said.

According to the rules for the tournament, India could name a replacement for Dhawan, but that would in all probability rule him out of the tournament — because even if he recovers in time for the later matches, Dhawan would be eligible to come back to the team only if another player gets injured. Dhawan could then replace him. 

If his diagnosis suggests that he is likely to be fit in time for the semifinals (July 9 and 7) and final (July 14), the team management might not name a replacement for him. But that would leave the team very vulnerable in case another player becomes unavailable due to an injury.

This is the reason the team management would be keen to take its time and be absolutely sure about the implications before naming Dhawan’s replacement.

The rain in northern England — a deluge, actually, with roads inundated in several places, including in Nottingham — may severely impact Thursday’s match against New Zealand. This is the second reason for the management to not hurry into naming a replacement for Dhawan.

Dhawan’s loss would be a huge setback to India’s World Cup hopes — he tends to be overshadowed by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, but Dhawan’s record in ICC tournaments is fantastic. In 10 World Cup matches, he’s got 537 runs at an average of 53.70 — Kohli has 687 from 19 matches and Rohit has 537 from 10 matches.