Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has been sidelined from the ongoing World Cup with a thumb injury. And there have been talks about his replacement ever since the news broke out. Dhawan sustained an injury after being hit on his left thumb by a Pat Cummins‘ delivery. The southpaw went on to hit a hundred and helped his side register a convincing win against Australia.
Rumors doing the round over Dhawan’s replacement
However, he didn’t take the field and was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja during Australia’s innings. It is unlikely that the batter will participate in the tournament any further. There have been rumors doing the round that Rishabh Pant might replace him, while many believe Ajinkya Rahane should get into the team.
Gambhir backs Rayudu to replace the injured opener
According to former cricketer Gautam Gambhir, Ambati Rayudu should get the nod ahead of the rest. Rayudu was off color during the IPL but did well in seaming conditions against New Zealand away. He was considered as a stand-by and Gambhir feels that this would be the right time to rope in the cricketer for the mega event.
“If Ambati Rayudu doesn’t make it as Shikhar’s replacement than his career is over. He averages 45 in ODIs and not being part of the World Cup with that average is very disappointing,” Gambhir told Star Sports.
“If he doesn’t make it then he should pack his bags and only concentrate on the IPL because his international career is over,” he added.
India’s next encounter is against New Zealand and it would be interesting to see who gets to open the innings with Rohit Sharma. The selectors had picked KL Rahul as a stand-by opener but the Karnataka batsman hit a hundred in one of the practice matches, batting at no. 4 and thus carried on batting in the same slot since then.