Virat Kohli
After rain played spoilsport once again, for the fourth time this tournament, unbeaten India and New Zealand had to share the spoils at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. After the match was abandoned, Team India captain Virat Kohli provided an update on Shikhar Dhawan's injury.
"Shikhar will be in a plaster for a couple of weeks, we'll assess and see. Hopefully, he'll be available for the latter half and the semi-finals. He's motivated, we wanted to keep him back," said Kohli after the match.
On the eve of the India-New Zealand clash, India's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar provided an update on the opener. A final decision on Dhawan's availability at the ongoing World Cup will be taken only after 10 to 12 days as he is too "precious" to be ruled out just yet, according to Bangar.
Dhawan will miss three to four games due to the hairline fracture on his left thumb and Rishabh Pant will join the team as cover in Manchester ahead of the clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
"As far as Shikhar is concerned, we are observing him and it will take some time, around 10 or 12 days to figure out where he stands," Bangar said on the eve of the game against New Zealand.
"We will be in a better position to take a call then because we don't want to rule out a precious player like Shikhar, straight at the time of the injury," he added.
The assistant coach's statement means that Dhawan will be out of the games against New Zealand (Thursday), Pakistan (Manchester, June 16), Afghanistan (June 22, Southampton) and West Indies (June 27, Manchester).
The frustrating English weather finally caught up with the Indian team as their third World Cup game against New Zealand was called off without a ball being bowled on Thursday.
New Zealand have seven points from four games while India now have five from three with the next game against Pakistan in Manchester on Sunday.
Incidentally, the weather Gods are threatening to play spoilsport over there too.
