India has kickstarted their campaign in the ICC World Cup 2023. The Rohit Sharma-led outfit thumped Australia by 6 wickets in Chennai to mark their first win of the tournament. The focus now shifts toward their second game, which will take place against Afghanistan. The match is slated to take place on Wednesday (11 October) at Arun Jaitely Stadium, Delhi.
ICC World Cup 2023: Huge Blow for India! Shubman Gill To miss Afghanistan Clash as well
India were without the services of Shubman Gill in their first ICC World Cup 2023 clash against Australia. The batter ahead of the match was tested positive for dengue and had a high fever, which was he missed the clash.
The recent reports in ANI have suggested that Shubman Gill will miss the next game against Afghanistan as well. It is learned that the batter is recovering well but is still unfit to play. He will also be travelling to the team and is likely to return for the Pakistan clash, slated to take place on 14th October.
Shubman Gill’s absence was quite evident in the game against Australia. India had a terrible outing with the bat initially as Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer bagged ducks. Had the young batter been there, the story would’ve been different.
Read: ICC World Cup 2023 IND vs AFG: ODI Stats, Records & Pitch Report Of Arun Jaitley Stadium
Shubman Gill has been in the red hot form in ODIs this year. He has carried the Indian batting lineup and has won them many games. The young opener is the leading run-getter in the 50-over format this year as he has piled up over 1200 runs and also has smashed 5 centuries.
Gill was India’s best batter in the Asia Cup 2023 as he was the only batter with over 300 runs in the tournament. He followed that tournament with another impressive performance as he bagged Player of the Series against Australia.
The team management would be hoping for him to recover soon. He will be a vital cog for his side going ahead into the ICC World Cup. He also takes a lot of pressure off skipper Rohit Sharma at the top and their combination works well for the team.
ICC World Cup 2023: India squad for the ICC World Cup
India’s squad for the ODI World Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.