Shikhar Dhawan to play in semi-finals? Virat Kohli drops big hint, throws a warning to Pakistan

Rain played spoilsport once again as the match between India and New Zealand was washed out without even a ball being bowled. Both teams share a point each and courtesy this, India move up to the number three spot on the points table. However, the bigger talking point all through this week has been the injury to Shikhar Dhawan and then the India-Pakistan match.

Speaking at the end of this match, Indian captain Virat Kohli threw more light on the Dhawan incident. It has to be mentioned here that the left-hander has not been sent back home as the management is confident he can regain fitness towards the latter half of the tournament and Kohli too sounded confident about the same.

"Shikhar will be in a plaster for a couple of weeks, we'll assess and see. Hopefully, he'll be available for the later half and the semi-finals. He's motivated, we wanted to keep him back," the Indian captain said.

Although, Rishabh Pant has been called as a cover and is camped at Manchester, he is not officially part of the Indian squad and this makes sense, as Dhawan fit and firing at the top of the order is a great bonus for Virat Kohli and company.

Pressure of India-Pakistan match on Sunday

The skipper also addressed the issue of pressure which comes along with any India-Pakistan match, but at the same time, he believed that his side will bring out the best when they face their arch-rivals in Machester on Sunday.

"As soon as you enter the field, it's all calm. All the excitement and frenzy around the game could intimidate guys who are playing for the first time. For us, it's about executing our skills and we're all professionals," the skipper said.

He did concede that the atmosphere can be intimidating from the outset, but once the teams enter the playing arena it all boils down to which side executes their plans better on the day.

"As soon as you enter the field, it's calm and relaxed. The atmosphere from the outside, for the first time, it's a bit intimidating, but we'll look to execute well," Kohli said.

Pakistan will be under more pressure as they have already lost two important matches against the West Indies and Australia. India are unbeaten in the tournament so far, but as the captain said, both sides need to start from scratch as India-Pakistan matches over the years have been about controlling the nerves and executing the plans better.