One of Team India’s biggest strengths was the experience and success that they had at the top of the order.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are two of the most dangerous opening batsmen in World Cricket.
Sharma scored an unbeaten century (122) in India’s opening match against the South Africans and Dhawan followed it up with an impressive century against the Australians in their second match.
India went on to win both matches and were looking very threatening in their bid to win the 2019 World Cup.
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Dhawan did not field in the game against Australia as he took a blow to his left hand while batting from a Patrick Cummins delivery. Scans have shown that he suffered a hairline fracture to his left thumb and will definitely miss the next few games. Those close to the team suggest that it could very well be the end of Dhawan’s World Cup as the injury will take a few weeks to heal.
This is a big blow to team India and could significantly impact their chances of winning the World Cup, if they don’t find a proper replacement. They have to make two key decisions to replace Dhawan. The first is deciding whether they take KL Rahul who bats at number four and move him to the top of the order. They may not want to do this as KL Rahul has looked solid at number four.
The second decision is who do they call on to replace Dhawan in the squad. There are rumours that left handed Rishabh Pant will be the one to fly to England and take his place. If Pant gets the call up, will India experiment and try him at the top of the order or slot him in at number four?
India’s next match is against New Zealand on June 13 which means captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri cannot wait for a replacement to arrive. They will have to pick between all-rounder V Shankar who was expected to bat at number 4 before the World Cup started and the experienced D Karthik. If Shankar is picked, it will mean KL Rahul gets the nod to open with R Sharma. D Karthik has opened for Indian on a few occasions, so it will be interesting to see Team India’s plans against the Kiwis.
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