India’s star batter Shubman Gill could attend his first training session in over a week on Thursday after reportedly recovering from dengue ahead of India’s ICC Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan.
Gill, who missed India’s opening two World Cup games, reached Ahmedabad on Wednesday but remains doubtful for India’s meeting with arch-rivals Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“Gill took the evening flight from Chennai yesterday and reached Ahmedabad last night. He is now likely to hit the ground today and we will then see how the body reacts to physical activity. There is going to be no rush, one step at a time,” a source close to Team India told CricketNext.
Gill did not travel with the Indian team to Delhi for their second match after their six-wicket victory over Australia and was believed to be down with dengue, although this was never confirmed by the team management. The 24-year-old opening batter was taken to a hospital in Chennai for treatment but was eventually discharged after his health improved.
A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official confirmed on Wednesday that Gill was “absolutely fine” before adding he was unsure if the Indian batter would train the next day.
“Gill is doing absolutely fine and is set to leave Chennai for Ahmedabad today. It is still not clear whether Gill will have a light training session at Motera on Thursday. His recovery has been fine but can’t really be sure if he can play against Pakistan,” the BCCI official told Press Trust of India.
After the first six days of the World Cup 2023, Pakistan captain Babar Azam bagged the top spot in the latest ICC ODI Batting Rankings. Gill, who missed India’s game against Australia and is also unavailable for their clash with Afghanistan, missed out on the World No. 1 rank by just five points.
Ishan Kishan opened with India captain Rohit Sharma against Australia at MA Chidambaram, Chennai last week in Gill’s absence. India were reduced to 2 for 3 in a chase of 200 – Kishan, Rohit and Shreyas Iyer were dismissed for ducks. Team India recovered from their nightmare start to chase down the target with six wickets and 52 balls to spare, thanks to Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s 165-run partnership.
India's Shubman Gill plays a shot during a practice prior to a warm-up match between India and England ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati— (AFP via Getty Images)
Gill has been the leading run-getting in the 50-over format in 2023, with 1,230 runs at an average of 72.35 and a strike rate of 105.03. In his last four ODIs, he scored two centuries and a half-century, with two of those knocks coming against Australia in their recently concluded bilateral series.
India are currently playing Afghanistan in their second match of the World Cup 2023 in Delhi. Afghanistan are 214 for 4 after 41 overs after opting to bat at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
