In a major blow for team India, opener Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out for the next three weeks of the 2019 ICC World Cup due to a suspected finger injury which he suffered after being hit by a Nathan Coulter-Nile delivery in the previous game.

Although he continued playing after being hit in the game against Australia and scored a match-winning century, Dhawan did not take the field in that game as substitute fielder Ravindra Jadeja was used for that game. The 33-year-old has also not travelled with the Indian team to Nottingham where they will be facing New Zealand on Thursday; and has been sent to Leeds instead for further scans and tests regarding the injury.

With Dhawan ruled out for the next few games, team India would have to rethink their strategies with KL Rahul being promoted to open the innings and either of Vijay Shankar or Dinesh Karthik coming to fill the void at number four.

If Dhawan were to be ruled out of the tournament, India could call-up either Ambati Rayudu or Rishabh Pant who have been chosen as reserve players for the 2019 World Cup.

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Photo Courtesy: AFP Photo/ Dibyanshu Sarkar

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has credited India’s convincing victory over Australia at The Oval on Sunday to the bowlers, citing that despite the pitch being batsman friendly, his teammates managed to get the best out of it.

Electing to bat, India rode on Shikhar Dhawan’s breathtaking ton coupled with captain Virat Kohli’s 82 off 77 deliveries to post a mammoth 352 on board. In return, the defending champions crumbled, as they had no answers to India’s bowling attack.

Both Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar picked three wickets each, while spinner Yuzvendra Chahal got two as Australia fell 36 runs short.

“This performance is very satisfying because if you look at the conditions, it is fully in favour of batsmen. There’s nothing much for the bowler and managing to get them out on this wicket has been a good boost,�?Bhuvneshwar said during his interaction in mixed zone after Sunday’s match.

Getting the wicket of Steve Smith was arguably the turning point of the game, as Australia’s lower order failed to provide anything noteworthy soon after. Speaking about the wicket, the seamer said, “I bowled a slower one and he missed it. That’s how I got the wicket. In fact, shuffling across to the off-stump is his strength and he gets maximum runs that way. This time he missed. He missed that ball and it was a good thing for us,�?he added.

He also revealed how the team prepared a blueprint for David Warner. The left-hander indeed scored 56 but seemed extremely anxious at times. And Bhuvneshwar thinks it is because the bowlers didn’t give him enough room to work upon.

“Since there wasn’t much help from the wicket, we didn’t wish to give them much room and we capitalised on it. That was our plan.

“The Oval has always been a good batting track and there’s not much for the bowlers. We knew, it would be a high-scoring match and we were mentally prepared. We just tried to make it difficult for the batsmen with slower balls and other variations,�?he concluded.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Adrian Dennis

India captain Virat Kohli insisted it was "not acceptable" for his side's fans to boo Steve Smith during the team's World Cup victory over Australia in London on Sunday.

Both Smith and fellow Australia batsman David Warner have been on the receiving end of jeers from opposition fans at the World Cup following their return to the international arena after serving year-long bans for their respective roles during a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.  

After India completed a 36-run win over the reigning champions, Kohli told reporters he had apologised to Smith for the chants of "cheater" directed from the stands towards the former Australia captain.

Kohli in fact had tried to stop the taunts on the field by urging India supporters -- who dominated a capacity crowd at the Oval -- to clap, rather than boo Smith when the Australian was fielding on the boundary. 

- 'Not good to see' -

"Look I think what's happened has happened, long back. The guy is trying to play well for his side. It's not good to see someone down like that to be honest," Kohli said.

"We've had a few issues in the past, a few arguments on the field, but you don't want to see a guy feeling that every time he goes out to play."

Kohli had once stopped short of calling Smith a cheat after a Test match in Bangalore in 2017 when the then skipper looked up towards the dressing room for help during an umpire review -- something not permitted under the rules -- and called it a "brain fade".

The star batsman then insisted he would never be friends with the Australians again after winning a Test series marked by bad blood between the two teams but a different side to the Indian run machine, who made 82 in his side's total of 352 for five, was on show at the Oval.

"He (Smith) is coming back, he's playing hard and just getting on with it. There were a lot of Indian fans here and I just didn't want them to set a bad example," said Kohli.

"He didn't do anything to be booed, he was just playing cricket. If I was in a position where something had happened to me, where I had apologised, accepted it and then came back I wouldn't like it either.

"I just told him 'sorry on behalf of the crowd'. In my opinion I didn't think that was acceptable," he added.

Smith and Warner have both been in the runs since their returning and they each hit a fifty, albeit not as quickly as they would have liked, as Australia were dismissed for 316 to lose their first game of the tournament following two wins.

India's success was built on Shikhar Dhawan's 117 and his 127-run opening partnership with Rohit Sharma.

It was the duo's 16th century partnership in one-day internationals as they saw off the new-ball threat of Australian's Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

Kohli rated the left-hand/right-hand combination of Dhawan and Sharma as "world-class" and sad the two batsmen were difficult to contain when in full flow.

"They both have a big-match temperament and we are lucky to have two such solid openers in our team who when they play well provide a lot of confidence to the dressing room," the captain said.

Feature image courtsey: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar

India beat champions Australia by 36 runs in Sunday's World Cup showdown between two of the leading title contenders.

We look at some of the key aspects from a fascinating clash between he heavyweights at the Oval.

India fans turn the Oval blue

India's fans provided a vivid backdrop to their team's impressive win as they took over the 24,500-capacity Oval, turning a corner of south London into Mumbai for the day.

There was a huge cheer for India captain Virat Kohli at the toss and after he won it the roar was so loud it drowned out his on-field interview.

All four sides of the Oval were a vibrant, colourful scene as fans clad in their team's blue replica shirts waved the orange, white and green national flag.

There was a constant cacophony of air-horns being jubilantly honked whenever a boundary was hit.

Celebratory Mexican waves rolled around the stands as India piled on the runs, while the 'Bharat Army' supporters' group were making themselves heard with drums providing the beat to chants of "India, India". 

Even some of the rooftops of the flats around the Oval had been turned into temporary stands by local Indians.

The whole crowd were on their feet chanting "we will rock you" when Kohli unloaded a late barrage in India's total of 352-5, while Australia's boundaries in their unsuccessful run-chase were greeted with near-total silence.

Dhawan, Sharma strike again

Image Rohit Shikhar �?AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar

On the previous 15 occasions Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma had added 100 or more together, India had won 13 times and once again the openers laid the foundations for victory.

Dhawan and Sharma now have the joint second most century opening partnerships in ODI cricket, level on 16 with former Australia stars Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden.

After a cautious start, they opened up before their stand ended on 127 when Sharma was caught behind off Nathan Coulter-Nile for 57.

Dhawan's 17th one-day hundred was the 33-year-old's fourth against Australia and third at the Oval.

By the time Dhawan was caught on the boundary, going for a huge slog off Mitchell Starc, his innings of 117 from 109 balls had put India in a commanding position.

Warner bailed out

When Australia opener David Warner chopped Jasprit Bumrah's short delivery onto his boot and the ball rolled towards the stumps, it seemed certain India would claim a priceless early wicket.

But, not for the first time in this World Cup, the ball struck the wicket but failed to dislodge the bails, meaning Warner earned an unexpected reprieve.

Image Warner �?AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar

It was the fifth incident in the tournament of the 'zing' bails, which contain lights that flash when the ball hits the wicket, failing to come off.  

Most egregiously, in the West Indies' game against Australia on Thursday, Chris Gayle was saved when the bails stayed on despite his stump being clipped by a 91 mph Mitchell Starc delivery.

Other high-profile occurences included South Africa's Quinton de Kock being reprieved against England in the tournament's opening game and Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne surviving against New Zealand.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) have defended using the 'zing' bails', but it has been suggested the bails and stumps are heavier than normal equipment due to the wiring needed to work the lights.

Warner, who was on one at the time of his escape, went on to score 56, and the issue is becoming a huge talking point.

"I understand that the electronics in the stumps and the bails make them heavier. Why can't the groove the bails sit in just be made shallower? Won't that fix the problem?" New Zealand pace bowler Jimmy Neesham tweeted after the Warner incident.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also called for action.

"This is ridiculous. It's 80-odd miles per hour and it's hit leg stump. Hard. Something needs to be done. It's madness," he told the BBC.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar

Shikhar Dhawan hit a sparkling century to help India post 352 for five against Australia in a key World Cup clash at the Oval on Sunday.

The opening batsman led the Indian charge after captain Virat Kohli won the toss and batted -- a decision he said was a "no-brainer" given the sunny conditions in south London.

Kohli also came out all guns blazing to smash 82 and combine with Hardik Pandya for a 81-run third-wicket stand that saw the pair pummel world champions Australia's bowlers.

The left-handed Dhawan made 117 off 109 balls and shared an opening stand of 127 with Rohit Sharma (57) that set the tone for the innings.

India's total meant Australia were left needing to surpass Ireland's 329 for seven against England in 2011, the highest score by any team batting second to win a World Cup match.

Dhawan and Sharma, who made 57, turned around their cautious start against the Australia new-ball pair of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc to put India in control with their 16th century partnership in one-day internationals.

Paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile finally struck in the 23rd over, having Sharma caught behind, with both Australia and India looking to extend unbeaten records at this year's World Cup.

It was a first wicket of the World Cup for Coulter-Nile, who feared he might be dropped despite a match-winning 92 with the bat in Australia's narrow win over the West Indies last time out.

Dhawan carried on, however, to reach a hundred with a single of Marcus Stoinis after the ball rebounded off the stumps. 

He acknowledged his 17th ODI century by taking off his helmet and waving his bat to huge cheers from a largely India-supporting crowd.

The aggressive Dhawan then drove a 93 mph delivery from Starc straight past the left-arm quick's head for four.

But Starc eventually had Dhawan caught at deep midwicket to end an innings featuring 16 boundaries

Kohli, out for 18 in India's opening win against South Africa, then took as all-rounder Pandya, pushed up the order, provided superb support for his skipper.

Kohli registered his 50th fifty at this level in an already illustrious career that has taken him to the top of the world's batting chart in Test and ODI cricket.

Pandya, who was dropped first ball by wicket-keeper Alex Carey, made the most of his reprieve to hit 48 runs off just 27 deliveries before falling to Cummins.

MS Dhoni also chipped in with a brisk 27 as India scored 59 runs from the last five overs.

Stoinis took the wickets of Dhoni and Kohli in the last over but KL Rahul finished off the innings with a boundary.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar