“Shubman Gill will definitely play” - Former India chief selector MSK Prasad predicts opener will be in playing XI against Pakistan

Former India chairman of selectors MSK Prasad believes that opener Shubman Gill will be part of Team India’s playing XI for the 2023 World Cup match against Pakistan. Prasad claimed that Gill has recovered from his illness and added that talks over the seriousness of his sickness are just “rumors”.

Gill missed India’s first two World Cup matches against Australia and Afghanistan. He was even briefly hospitalized in Chennai. Having arrived in Ahmedabad, where India will face Pakistan on Saturday, the 24-year-old was seen hitting the nets on Thursday. As per reports, the cricketer batted for an hour in the nets and also did some fielding drills.

In an interaction with hindustantimes.com, Prasad claimed that Gill has recovered from his illness and will play the World Cup match against Pakistan.

"I think we can put an end to all kinds of speculations. Shubman Gill will definitely play this game (vs Pakistan). He's too good a player to miss out. He had just a fever. He has recovered. It was not threatening at all that we would even think about replacements. It's all rumors that are coming out (about the seriousness of the illness) in whatever form that you are hearing,” he said.

The former keeper-batter opined that the youngster did not travel to Delhi for the match against Afghanistan as a precautionary measure.

“What we heard was that as a matter of precaution, he couldn't play the second game otherwise he was fine. He stayed back for one more day in Chennai as a precaution. He recovered well, and was discharged,” Prasad added.

In Gill’s absence, Ishan Kishan opened the innings with Rohit Sharma in India’s first two World Cup matches. The left-handed batter was dismissed for a golden duck in the game against Australia in Chennai.

Although he did not look fluent against Afghanistan as well in Delhi, Kishan did a much better job, scoring a run-a-ball 47 and adding 156 for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma (131 off 84 balls).

---

Shubman Gill’s impressive performances in Ahmedabad

Although Gill is yet to play an ODI at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, he has done well at the venue in other formats. The elegant right-handed batter scored 128 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in March this year.

The opener also slammed 126* off 63 balls in the third T20I of the three-match series against New Zealand in February 2023. The sensational knock featured 12 fours and seven sixes.