The chances of Shubman Gill’s involvement in the much-anticipated India-Pakistan encounter in Ahmedabad have seen a significant upturn, as Captain Rohit Sharma has given him a ‘99% chance’ of taking part in the game.
Gill had been sidelined by dengue fever, causing him to miss India’s first two World Cup matches. In fact, he didn’t even travel from Chennai to Delhi for the second game. Instead, he arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday and had an individual net session just two days before the match.
He joined the rest of the Indian squad for practice on the eve of the game and engaged in a warm-up foot net game before heading to the outdoor nets facility. During the session, he faced deliveries from the likes of Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, and the team’s throwdown specialists. While he seemed comfortable against spinners, he appeared a bit rusty against pace, even after facing deliveries from left-arm bowlers like Nuwan Seneviratne and Dayananda.
Gill’s initial practice session lasted nearly 40 minutes, after which he looked visibly fatigued. He sat down on the grass with a water bottle and needed to be checked on by Rahul Dravid and Vikram Rathour. He later attempted to resume batting against left-arm orthodox bowlers but appeared sluggish in his movements. At one point, he even had a net bowler stand behind the stumps to retrieve balls he missed or left alone. This second session was short-lived as Gill decided to call it quits and walked away.
However, he did return to the main stadium and took part in a slip-catching drill with fielding coach T. Dilip. In this session, he seemed much more agile than at the end of his net session. A diving stop earned him praise from coach Ishan Kishan, a close friend who was overseeing the drill. Notably, the team’s incumbent opener, Kishan, didn’t bat in the nets on the eve of the match.
India has several reasons to want Gill back in the XI, not the least of which is his impressive performance against Shaheen Afridi in their previous encounter in Colombo. Gill has a strong record playing at the Narendra Modi Stadium, representing his home franchise, the Gujarat Titans, in the IPL. In the most recent IPL season, he amassed 572 runs from just nine games, including two centuries, three half-centuries, and an exceptional strike rate of 172.81.
The final decision on his participation is expected to be made closer to the match. India will be cautious not to rush him back too soon, given that two-thirds of their league games are still to be played after this high-stakes clash.