Shubman Gill is all set to miss India's next game in the 2023 World Cup against Afghanistan as well, the BCCI confirmed on Monday (October 9).Gill will not even travel with the Indian team to Delhi and will instead remain in Chennai where he will be supervised by the medical team. The 24-year-old has been laid low by dengue recently and wasn't available for India's opening game of the tournament against Australia in Chennai on Sunday. In his absence, Ishan Kishan opened the batting for India but was dismissed for a duck.
Drafted in as Shubman's replacement for India's World Cup opener against Australia, wicketkeeper-batter Kishan opened the innings with skipper Rohit. Gill's like-for-like replacement had a forgetful outing against Australia as Kishan was handed a golden duck by veteran pacer Mitchell Starc at Chennai. In the absence of opener Gill, India managed to upstage Australia by 6 wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. Virat Kohli's brilliant knock of 85 (116) and KL Rahul's unbeaten 97 (115) powered India to an impressive win over the five-time world champions at the Chepauk. Gill had an exceptional last 12 months for India, especially in the limited-overs format. The 24-year-old is India's leading run-getter in One Day Internationals (ODIs) this year. Indian opener Gill has amassed 1,230 runs at an average of 72.35. Batting at a strike rate of 105.03, the in-form batter has managed to cross the 50-run mark in half of his innings in the World Cup year. After meeting Afghanistan on October 11 in the national capital, India will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14.
