"Score some runs" - Aakash Chopra says Shubman Gill needs to perform in IND vs SL 2023 World Cup clash

Aakash Chopra wants Shubman Gill to be among the runs in India's 2023 World Cup league-phase clash against Sri Lanka. The two sides will lock horns at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, November 2.

Gill has aggregated 104 runs at an underwhelming average of 26.00 in his four innings so far. The opener will want to give a better account of himself heading into the business end of the tournament.

Previewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Gill needs to perform heading into the knockout stages. He elaborated (1:50):

"Shubman Gill has scored runs in one match. It was against Bangladesh in Pune. Other than that, there hasn't been another very big knock, and as you go closer, as it is about the semi-final and final for India, you need to go there with performance."

The former India opener added:

"India were in a slight spot of bother in the last match as well when the ball was moving. Of course, that was against England in Lucknow but that won't happen here. So Shubman Gill - score some runs."

Chopra further highlighted that the Gujarat Titans' opener has surprisingly underperformed at the Wankhede Stadium in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He observed:

"This ground has also not been great for him. You will find that he hasn't scored runs here in the IPL. He scores runs everywhere, you have an extremely flat pitch here, it seems like Shubman will score a lot of runs but his numbers here are extremely ordinary. So you will expect runs from him."

While observing that Rohit Sharma will be playing on his home ground, Aakash Chopra expects Virat Kohli to fire against Sri Lanka, highlighting that the failure in the last match was an aberration.

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"It is an important game for him" - Aakash Chopra on Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has scored just one half-century in six innings. [P/C: AP]

Aakash Chopra highlighted the significance of the Sri Lanka clash for Shreyas Iyer as well. He said (2:45):

"Shreyas Iyer - it is an important game for him. It is actually an important game for players who haven't done anything special thus far. It can be Shubman Gill or Shreyas Iyer."

Shreyas has aggregated only 134 runs at an average of 33.50 in his six innings in the ongoing World Cup.

The cricketer-turned-commentator further added that the game also presents an opportunity for Suryakumar Yadav to consolidate his position in the XI before Hardik Pandya is back into the mix. He explained:

"Suryakumar Yadav has another chance to further establish himself because Hardik Pandya isn't available for this match and the next. People are saying he might be directly available for the semi-finals. So it will be a race between Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer."

Suryakumar has scored 51 runs in his two hits, including a crucial 49-run knock in India's previous game against England in Lucknow.