Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of ICC World Cup 2019: Twitter reacts to heartbreaking development

Shikhar Dhawan could not recover from the hairline fracture and will now be replaced in the squad by Rishabh Pant.

India suffered a huge jolt when opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup. The India opener suffered a hairline fracture to his left thumb during his century against Australia last Sunday and hasn’t recovered well enough to play the tournament.

India's Shikhar Dhawan watches teammates bat in the nets during a training session ahead of their Cricket World Cup match against Afghanistan at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, England, Wednesday, June 19, 2019 (AP)

Rishabh Pant, who flown in as a cover by the BCCI on June 11, will now replace the opener in the Indian squad. (Complete coverage of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019)

Sunil Subramaniam, the India team manager, said, “Shikhar has a fracture at the base of his first metacarpal on his left hand. Following several specialist opinions, he will remain in cast until July, mid-July, which rules him out of the ICC World Cup 2019.”

Dhawan’s absence will be missed by the Indian team as the left-hander has been prolific in ICC and multi-team events over the past six years. he was the highest scorer in each of the last five multi-team (five-plus teams) ODI tournaments for India - Champions Trophy 2013, Asia Cup 2014, World Cup 2015, Champions Trophy 2017 and Asia Cup 2018.

Here is how Twitter reacted to this development: