World Cup 2019: Team India hit by injury scare as Shikhar Dhawan gets hit on the helmet

With Team India all set to play the first practice game against New Zealand on Saturday, the team has been preparing hard. Just 24 hours after reaching England, it was time for some serious business for ‘Men in Blue’. Captain Virat Kohli and his men headed straight to the ground for their first practice session ahead of the World Cup 2019. However, it did not end on the best of notes as opener Shikhar Dhawan was hit on the helmet and he sustained a small injury.

The practice session kicked off at The Oval trying to adjust to the conditions. The session began with some motivating words from the head coach Ravi Shastri. Then, Virat Kohli joined the side to give a pep talk to the boys before they headed for their warmups. The boys, meeting together for the first time in two months, started off with the bonding session where they played footy volleyball first. Then, it was the ‘Steal the Bib’ game that kept them entertained with the players thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Will Shikhar Dhawan recover in time?

After this fun session, the players headed straight into the nets. Skipper Virat was the first to head into the nets with all other batsmen joining turn by turn. The 30-year-old faced the pacers in the nets and focussed on deliveries that were pitched outside off-stump and the ones pitched towards the middle-stump. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni spent his time facing the short ball. He tried honing his pull and hook shots keeping the conditions in mind, according to Star Sports.

On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan took some throwdowns from the batting coach Sanjay Bangar. One of the short balls that were bowled hurled at a great pace towards him and hit him hard on the helmet. His practice session had to be cut short after this blow as physio Pattrick Farhart attended him. Gabbar got hit in the region around his lips and the jaw.

However, he is a great fighter and walked off the field with a smile on his face. Although he looked to be in pain initially, he seemed better as he went into the dressing room. The intensity of the injury is not known yet. But by the looks of things, he should be fine for the first practice game.