CWC'19: Shikhar Dhawan ruled out, Rishabh Pant comes in as replacement

Southampton [England], Jun 19 (ANI): Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the remainder of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, while the BCCI has requested the ICC to bring in Rishabh Pant as the replacement, India team manager Sunil Subramaniam confirmed on Wednesday.
"Dhawan has a fracture on the base of his first metacarpal on his left hand. Based on several specialist opinions, he will remain in a cast till mid-July, which rules him out of the World Cup. We have requested ICC to allow Rishabh Pant to be as a replacement," Subramaniam said in a press conference.
On June 12, wicket-keeper batsman Pant was called in as a back up for injured Dhawan. During the India-Pakistan clash on June 16, Dhawan was rested while KL Rahul opened along with Rohit Sharma and at number four Vijay Shankar played.
Dhawan is currently nursing an injury on the back of his left hand in the region between the index finger and thumb. During a fixture against Australia on June 9, he was hit by a Pat Cummins bouncer. However, Dhawan went onto play a match-winning knock of 117 off 109 balls which helped India secure a 36-run win.
India captain Virat Kohli provided an injury update about Dhawan. "Shikhar will be in a plaster for a couple of weeks, we'll assess and see. Hopefully, he'll be available for the latter half and the semi-finals. He's motivated, we wanted to keep him back," Kohli had said.
Earlier, the BCCI had released a statement saying Dhawan is currently under observation after sustaining an injury. The opening batsman will stay in England and his progress will be monitored by the Indian cricket board.
"Team India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan is presently under the observation of the BCCI medical team. The team management has decided that Dhawan will continue to be in England and his progress will be monitored," BCCI said, adding, "Dhawan sustained an injury on the back of his left hand in the region between the index finger and thumb during the CWC 2019 league match against Australia."
India will take on Afghanistan on June 22 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. (ANI)