Rishabh Pant, whose omission from the original squad became a topic of heated debates given his stupendous form in the past one year, will reach England on Wednesday.
Rishabh Pant
Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was Wednesday brought in as cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan in India's World Cup squad.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pant, whose omission from the original squad became a topic of heated debates given his stupendous form in the past one year, will reach here Wednesday.
His arrival will be a day before India's game against New Zealand and he won't be considered a replacement till the time the team management takes a final call on Dhawan's availability for the rest of the tournament.
"Rishabh Pant is being flown in from India as cover at the request of the team management," a senior BCCI official currently in England told PTI.
The 21-year-old is one of the most exciting players to have emerged in Indian cricket. He impressed with Test hundreds during the tours of England and Australia earlier and was in fine form during the IPL last month.
Several former players such as Sunil Gavaskar advocated for his inclusion in the squad if Dhawan fails to recover quickly enough for India. Dhawan has been ruled out of three matches due to a hairline fracture on his left thumb which he sustained during his match-winning hundred in the clash against Australia on Sunday.
"...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," the Indian team said in a statement on Wednesday night.
"Dhawan sustained an injury on the back of his left hand in the region between the index finger and thumb...," it added.
Here is how Twitter reacted to Rishabh Pant's inclusion in the squad:
With Shikhar Dhawan injured, bring in Rishabh Pant. Making him open with Rohit Sharma, with a licence to go beserk!#CWC19 #CWC2019
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) June 11, 2019
Rishabh Pant rushing for his flight after hearing about Shikhar Dhawan ðÂu00c2u009fÂu00c2u0098Âu00c2u0089#CWC19 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/7ZNIvm0II7
— FlashScore.in (@FlashScore_IN) June 11, 2019
Rishabh Pant right now.. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/e3mruSM0gP
— Loveyouall_007 (@loveyouall_007) June 11, 2019
After #ShikharDhawan injury...
— Engineer_हà¥Âu00c2u0082à¤Âu00c2u0081 (@black_snake10) June 11, 2019
Rayudu: I Can Replace
Rishabh Pant: pic.twitter.com/otAHgS579r
Rishabh Pant be like.. pic.twitter.com/wROHP6qAlb
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) June 12, 2019
Rishabh Pant after Dhawan got injured. pic.twitter.com/hKOtZb5RBH
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) June 12, 2019
Rishabh Pant after hearing about Shikhar Dhawan's injury pic.twitter.com/6IrPsWFkCG
— Sir Yuzvendra (@SirYuzvendra) June 11, 2019
Rishabh Pant set to fly to England ðÂu00c2u009fÂu00c2u0091Âu00c2u008cðÂu00c2u009fÂu00c2u0091Âu00c2u008cðÂu00c2u009fÂu00c2u0091Âu00c2u008cðÂu00c2u009fÂu00c2u0091Âu00c2u008c #CWC19
— #RamCharan (@IamAlwaysArun) June 12, 2019
Congratulations #RishabhPant pic.twitter.com/bIIzSw8Y1C
— Shariph (@Shariph19) June 12, 2019
#ShikharDhawan
— Aparna ðÂu00c2u009fÂu00c2u0087®ðÂu00c2u009fÂu00c2u0087³ (@Jayaa_IND) June 11, 2019
When you were not selected n suddenly got a unexpected call from BCCI to join Team India. #RishabhPant be like : pic.twitter.com/dEWSw6PhD4
Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates