World Cup 2019: Medical team hints at Shikhar Dhawan’s likely comeback date

Two-time world champions India were in for a shock when their ace opener Shikhar Dhawan suffered a thumb fracture in the game against Australia at The Oval last Sunday. Dhawan has been ruled out for three weeks and the disappointment is even more since the left-hander has just hit a century against the Kangaroos and looked promising to score many more in the competition. The 33-year-old’s absence also means that India will have to fall back on a robust Plan B to maintain their momentum gained from the first two games.

India’s next assignment is against New Zealand who they take on at Trent Bridge on Thursday. The Black Caps have won all their matches so far and the Men in Blue will have to play really well to tackle the strong bowling line-up that the 2015 finalists have. India and New Zealand are the only two unbeaten teams in the fray so far.

India, however, have decided to retain Shikhar Dhawan in the squad to closely monitor his recovery. The man, who was hit on his thumb by pacer Pat Cummins, scored 117 off 109 balls to help India win the game by 36 runs. Dhawan has already been ruled out of the clash against New Zealand as well from the high-voltage match against Pakistan on Sunday. He had belted the Men in Green in the two teams’ last meeting at the Asia Cup last year.

Dhawan underwent tests in Leeds

Shikhar Dhawan went to Leeds where his injury was ascertained and in a good news for the Indian camp, the medical team gave a positive signal to the team management. According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, the Indian batsman is likely to be fit to play in the latter half of the tournament. He might feature in the match against England to be played at Edgbaston on June 30.

In between matches against Pakistan and England, India will play Afghanistan and the Windies and Dhawan is most likely to miss those two games as well. The Men in Blue have beaten South Africa by 6 wickets before defeating Australia and were looking to build upon the momentum gained from beating two top teams till the unfortunate news on Dhawan broke.