Rishabh
Pant's omission from the original squad had become a topic of heated
debates given his stupendous form in the past one year.
Young
wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was Wednesday brought in as cover
for the injured Shikhar
Dhawan in India's World Cup squad.
Pant,
whose omission from the original squad became a topic of heated
debates given his stupendous form in the past one year, will reach
here Wednesday.
His
arrival will be a day before India's game against New Zealand and he
won't be considered a replacement till the time the team management
takes a final call on Dhawan's availability for the rest of the
tournament.
"Rishabh
Pant is being flown in from India as cover at the request of the
team management," a senior BCCI official currently in England
told PTI.
The
21-year-old is one of the most exciting players to have emerged in
Indian cricket. He impressed with Test hundreds during the tours of
England and Australia earlier and was in fine form during the IPL
last month.
Several
former players such as Sunil Gavaskar advocated for his inclusion in
the squad if Dhawan fails to recover quickly enough for India. Dhawan
has been ruled out of three matches due to a hairline fracture on his
left thumb which he sustained during his match-winning hundred in the
clash against Australia on Sunday.
"...Dhawan
is presently under the observation of the BCCI medical team. The team
management has decided that Dhawan will continue to be in England and
his progress will be monitored," the Indian team said in a
statement on Wednesday night.
"Dhawan
sustained an injury on the back of his left hand in the region
between the index finger and thumb...," it added.
