India’s opener Shikhar Dhawan was on Monday ruled out of the rest of the Sri Lanka series with a hairline fracture on his right hand, dealing a major blow to the tourists.
Dhawan, 29, injured his right hand during the first Test in Galle which India lost by 63 runs on Saturday to concede the lead in the three-match series.
Two successive hundreds and Shikhar Dhawan has to miss out with a fracture! KL Rahul missed Bangladesh, now gets another chance! Evens out!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 17, 2015
Dhawan, who hit a century in the first innings at Galle, will miss both the second Test starting at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Thursday and also the final match at the Sinhalese Sports Club in the Sri Lankan capital from August 28.
“He (Dhawan) underwent tests that confirmed a hairline fracture in his hand. He would require four to six weeks to recover from the injury,” a statement from the team management said.
No replacement has been named, but the injury to the in-form left-hander left India in trouble after the other opener, Lokesh Rahul, was dismissed for seven and five at Galle.
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Top order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is waiting in the wings, while India had already summoned all-rounder Stuart Binny to join the squad as the 16th member before Dhawan’s non-availability was confirmed.
Dhawan has scored 1,158 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 44.53 with four centuries.
