Rishabh Pant to fly to England after injury rules Shikhar Dhawan out of the World Cup

Team India have been dealt with a body blow as their star opener Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out for at least three weeks from the ongoing World Cup in England. The dashing batsman sustained a thumb injury when a fierce short delivery from Pat Cummins caught him trouble in India's recent match against Australia. Reportedly, the development has opened the door for young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant.

A source close to Times of India said that Shikhar Dhawan's injury was a huge blow. The source added that the injury is "bad enough" to ask for a replacement and Rishabh Pant will be the replacement.

"Once all the details on Dhawan's injury are out, the team management will put out an official request for a replacement. And that replacement is going to be Pant. The injury is bad enough to ask for a replacement," the source was quoted as saying by TOI.

Pant, who had once again impressed one and all with his hard-hitting abilities in the latest IPL, was one of the strong contenders to make the cut into India's 15-member squad to the World Cup. However, the youngster lost the place to a more experienced Dinesh Karthik.

With Dhawan unavailable for the coming weeks, a few experts opine that KL Rahul should be moved up the order to open with Rohit Sharma. The tussle for the no 4 spot, on the other hand, is likely to be between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant.

India next take on New Zealand on 13 June in Nottingham and Dhawan's loss is likely to be a huge setback to start off. It'll be interesting to see the team selection strategy against a strong New Zealand bowling attack that ripped India apart in the warm-up game earlier.