In-form Shikhar Dhawan’s fresh injury has put the Indian team into the concern. While Dhawan didn’t come to bat in the Bengaluru ODI due to the on-field injury, his participation in the forthcoming New Zealand tour is in serious doubt.
After the conclusion of the home ODI series against Australia, Indian cricketers are now ready to travel to New Zealand. In this tour, they will play the five-match T20I series (24th January to 2nd February), three-match ODI series (5th to 11th February) and two-match Test series (21st February to 4th March) against the hosts.
While the national selectors have already announced the Indian T20I squad for this New Zealand tour, they will soon announce the ODI and Test squads for this tour. Shikhar Dhawan, who is currently in great form in limited-overs cricket, is in the T20I squad. But his latest injury is becoming a serious bar for him to participate in this tour.
In the last year, Shikhar Dhawan missed out many international matches due to the injuries, including missing out many matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. After continuously battling with the injuries, Dhawan has just returned to the form in the new year. But during the series-deciding ODI against Australia at Bengaluru on last Sunday (19th January), Dhawan suffered a fresh injury during the fielding. After missing out the remaining Australian innings, he didn’t come out to bat during India’s chasing while he could be allowed to bat from the beginning of Indian innings.
Update: Shikhar Dhawan has gone for an X-Ray. A call on him being available for the game will be taken once he is back & assessed #TeamIndia #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/94I4tlyxzc
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 19, 2020
Shikhar Dhawan was seen with his left arm in a sling
While Shikhar Dhawan had an x-ray, he was later seen with his left arm in a sling. The medical team is looking at his condition.
Before the post-match press conference, BCCI media manager said, “Shikhar’s scans are here. The medical team is looking at the scans. He will be assessed and his condition will be taken care of and then we will take a call as and when we go.”
While the Indian team has the schedule to leave the country for New Zealand on Monday (20th January) morning, Dhawan is unlikely to travel with them.
In this new year, the left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has scored 32 runs (Indore T20I against Sri Lanka), 52 runs (Pune T20I against Sri Lanka), 74 runs (Mumbai ODI against Australia) and 96 runs (Rajkot ODI against Australia) respectively.