Pant in Team India, but without dressing room

Nottingham (PTI): Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was Wednesday brought in as cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan in India's World Cup squad but won't get access to the dressing room till the time the senior opener is not completely ruled out. Pant, whose omission from the original squad became a topic of heated debates given his stupendous form in the past one year, will join the side in Manchester ahead of the marquee clash against Pakistan on Sunday.

A final decision on Shikhar Dhawan's availability will be taken only after 10 to 12 days as he is too "precious" to be ruled out just yet, India's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar said.

Kapil said he feels sorry for the in-form batsman who scored a hundred against Australia on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Pant 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. It was learnt from BCCI sources that just like Dhawal Kulkarni in the 2015 World Cup, Pant will not officially be a part of the squad and won't have dressing room access on match days.

The 33-year-old Dhawn quoted legendary Urdu poet Rahat Indori on his Twitter page to show his intentions. "Kabhi mehek ki tarah hum gulon se udte hain...Kabhi dhuyein ki tarah hum parbaton se udte hain...Ye kainchiyaan humein udne se khaak rokengi...Ke hum paron se nahin hoslon se udte hain... (Sometimes we are like the fragrance of flowers, sometimes the smoke that comes out of mountains. How can any scissor cut short our flight as we don't fly on wings but courage)," he posted. Dhawan picked up the injury during the match-winning hundred against Australia on Sunday.

Only the selected players can travel in team bus and have dressing room access as per ICC's Anti Corruption rules.