India batsman Shikhar Dhawan didn’t take the field during the second innings of the second ODI against Australia in Rajkot, after copping a nasty blow to the ribs from a Pat Cummins bouncer while batting, raising injury concerns.
Dhawan suffered the blow on the second ball of the 10th over of the innings while he was on 26. He was laid low by the blow and was attended to by the physio, but resumed batting. Remarkably, he began timing the ball quite crisply soon after that episode and fell only in the 29th over, just four short of a century.
Shikhar Dhawan is taking the attack to the Australian spinners now and is looking good for a big one!#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/gRPL60lHpo
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 17, 2020
The left-handed opener showed no evident signs of discomfort while compiling the runs, but it turns out that he may have been in a bit of pain. “Shikhar Dhawan got hit on the rib-cage on his right side. He will not be taking the field today. Yuzvendra Chahal is in as his substitute,” a BCCI media release stated.
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Dhawan has had more than a fair share of injury troubles in the year gone by and will hope that this one isn’t a major setback. During the World Cup last year, he had copped a blow on his left thumb during his match-winning hundred against the same opposition in a round-robin fixture at the Oval, and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament.
He isn’t the first one this series to be troubled by a Pat Cummins bouncer in the ongoing series. In the first ODI Rishabh Pant, deflected a pull shot onto his helmet and consequently suffered a concussion. The wicket-keeper didn’t take the field in that match and was then ruled out of the second ODI as well.
