Why is Ishan Kishan not playing today’s IND vs PAK 2023 World Cup match?

Ishan Kishan has lost his place to Shubman Gill in India's playing 11 for today's 2023 World Cup match against Pakistan.

Gill missed out on the first two matches of the tournament due to dengue fever. He has now returned to the playing 11 after a couple of net sessions and a few hours of batting and fielding drills. Rohit Sharma in a press conference on Friday said the right-handed opener was "99 percent available" for selection.

In Gill's absence, Kishan opened against Australia in Chennai and against Afghanistan in Delhi, scoring a duck and 47 (47), respectively.

"Unfortunately for Ishan, he has to miss out," Rohit said at the toss. "I feel for him. He has needed to step up for the team and has done really well but Gill has been a superb player for us and has scored a lot of runs in this ground."

Gill's return is a big boost to India. He is not only more experienced than Kishan at the top of the order but he also boasts a brilliant record at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the home ground for his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans.

In 12 IPL matches at the venue, he has 669 scored runs at an average of 66.9 and a strike rate of 159.29.

Gill has played two ODIs against Pakistan, both in the 2023 Asia Cup. He struggled and scored just 10 (32) in the first match but played more freely in the second, scoring 58 (52).

---

India's playing 11 without Ishan Kishan

India have made only one change in the playing 11. There was speculation about either Shardul Thakur or Mohammed Siraj dropping out to make way for Mohammed Shami but the hosts have decided to stick with both of them.

Here's how the 11 shapes up: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.