Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of India's last two Tests against Sri Lanka after sustaining a hand injury. Dhawan top-scored for the visitors in the first innings of the Galle Test with 134 and then made 28 in the second innings.
India lost the first Test by 63 runs.
Dhawan underwent tests that confirmed a hairline fracture in his hand. The left-handed opener played through some pain in India's second innings on Day 4. Dhawan will require four to six weeks to recover from the injury, the BCCI said in a press release.
This is a massive blow for India, who have relied heavily on Dhawan's form and experience in trying conditions in Sri Lanka. India, who were without the services of their other regular opener Murali Vijay in the first match, would be desperate to have him back when the second Test gets under way at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo from Thursday.
Dhawan's injury also means young Karnataka opener, Lokesh Rahul, who had a poor outing in Galle with scores of 7 and 5, will continue to hold on to his place and pair up with Vijay for the remaining two matches.
Sri Lanka would breathe a sigh of relief with Dhawan being ruled out. The Delhi dasher was in supreme form with successive Test match hundreds - against Bangladesh in Fatullah and then against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Source - NDTV