World Cup 2019: Rishabh Pant Confirmed As Shikhar Dhawan's Replacement

Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the World Cup with a fractured left thumb on Wednesday and the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the Event Technical Committee has approved Rishabh Pant as a replacement for the Indian opener for the remainder of the tournament. The in-form batsman suffered the injury while facing Australia's Pat Cummins in India's second match of the tournament at the Oval on June 9. "The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad. The Event Technical Committee of the ICC World Cup 2019 consists of Geoff Allardice (ICC, ETC chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC representative), Steve Elworthy (CWC representative), Alan Fordham (host representative), Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara (both independent representatives)," the ICC release said.

Dhawan carried on batting and scored a century to earn the man-of-the-match award as India beat the reigning champions by 36 runs.

But the 33-year-old left-hander did not field and has not featured in the World Cup since his century at Surrey's headquarters in south London. 

Rishabh Pant, a dynamic batsman and wicketkeeper, will replace Dhawan in India's squad ahead of their match against Afghanistan at Southampton on Saturday.

"Shikhar has a fracture at the base of his first metacarpal on his left hand," team manager Sunil Subramanian told reporters in Southampton.

"Following several specialist opinions, he will remain in a cast until mid-July, which rules him out of the ICC World Cup 2019."

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India Cricket Team Rishabh Pant Shikhar Dhawan World Cup 2019 Cricket