A major blow for India with opener Shikhar Dhawan's injured thumb forcing him out of the tournament
Injured Dhawan ruled out of World Cup
India's World Cup campaign has been dealt a blow, with opener Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of the remainder of the tournament due to a fractured thumb.
Dhawan injured his hand during India's 36-run victory against Australia at The Oval on June 9 and didn't take his place in the Indian XI for their most recent outing, against Pakistan on Sunday.
Rishabh Pant, who had already been called up as cover for the injured Dhawan, takes his place in the squad.
"Shikhar Dhawan has been diagnosed with a fracture of the first metacarpal on his left hand following a ball injury during the team's first match versus Australia at The Oval," the BCCI announced in a Tweet.
"Following several specialist opinions, he will remain in a cast until the middle of July and therefore will not be available for the remainder of #CWC19."
Dhawan's loss is a blow for India after he struck a brilliant 117 in that match against Australia.
Speaking late last week, India assistant coach Sanjay Bangar said India would miss Dhawan but the team had enough strength in depth to maintain their momentum in the round-robin tournament.
"He (Pant) bats in the middle order and obviously being a left-hander helps and he was named in the standbys as well, so the team management has gone and picked him," he said of Pant's call-up.
Pant, a 21-year-old flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman, made his Test debut in England last year and scored his maiden Test century during the series.
Pant, who is being groomed to take over from MS Dhoni as first-choice wicketkeeper in all formats of the game, also underlined his worth with an unbeaten 159 against Australia in Sydney earlier this year.
2019 World Cup
Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
June 1: Australia beat Afghanistan by seven wickets
June 6: Australia beat West Indies by 15 runs
June 9: Australia lost to India by 36 runs
June 12: Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs
June 15: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs
June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge
June 25: England v Australia, Lord's
June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)
July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)
July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford
July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston
July 14: Final, Lord's
Sync Australia's World Cup schedule to your calendar HERE
For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE