World Cup 2019 | Shikhar Dhawan under observation of BCCI team, will continue to be in England

Team India suffered a huge blow just when they were peaking at the right time in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as the star opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan who had scored a match-winning ton against the Aussies has been ruled out for three weeks due to a thumb injury. Gabbar sustained this injury during his fine knock against the five-time World Cup holders on Sunday when a rising delivery from Nathan-Coulter-Nile had struck him on his thumb and the southpaw appeared to be in pain. Nonetheless, he applied healing spray and soldiered on as he went on to register his 17th ODI ton, this was also his third World Cup century and his sixth in ICC events. His 109-ball 117 not only bagged him the Man of the Match award but also helped India register a 36-run win.

READ: 'Team India without Gabbar now': Netizens react as Shikhar Dhawan is ruled out for three weeks due to thumb injury at the World Cup

However, not all is lost for the swashbuckling batsman as he will continue to be in England & his progress will be monitored by the BCCI team. This message was posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their official Twitter handle.

While Dhawan has been sidelined and a replacement for the opening slot needs to be found, it is important to understand that the southpaw's presence contributes a lot to Team India's success. After all, he has stitched 16 opening wicket partnership stands with Rohit Sharma and he is the first Indian player with four centuries in England. At the same time, he is only the second visiting player with four tons in England. Therefore the Indian cricket fans will be desperately hoping that he recovers just in time for the knockout games.

At the same time, Gabbar is also India's premier batsman in ICC tournaments. It all started way back in in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy where India had a successful tournament. In that tournament, Dhawan scored 363 runs at a strike rate of over 100 including two centuries and a half-century. He won the Golden Bat award and was also adjudged as the 'Player of the Tournament'. Gabbar then had an excellent ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 where the southpaw amassed 412 runs at a strike rate of nearly 92 which included two centuries and a half-century. He was India's highest run-getter and the fifth leading scorer of that tournament. In the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy where India made the finals, Shikhar was once again the highest run-getter of the tournament where he scored 338 runs, which were instrumental in India reaching the summit clash. By the virtue of this splendid run, he was once again awarded the golden bat.

READ: 'Shikha OUT the World Cup...': Here's Kevin Pietersen's call-to-action for India after Shikhar Dhawan gets ruled out for 3 weeks at World Cup 2019