India opener Shubman Gill is "99 available" for the ICC World Cup 2023 game against Pakistan Ahmedabad on Saturday, confirms Rohit Sharma.
The 24-year-old reached Ahmedabad before the rest of the team and batted in the nets on Thursday and Friday.
If Shubman Gill manages to secure a place in the India XI, it will be instrumental in restoring India's first-choice lineup, which has been disrupted during the World Cup.
Unfortunately, Gill had to miss games against Australia and Afghanistan due to dengue fever, even though India emerged victorious in both matches.
Gill did not travel with the team to Delhi for their second fixture against Afghanistan on Wednesday since he was taken to a hospital in Chennai - where India played their first game, against Australia - for treatment but was subsequently discharged after his health improved.
During Gill's absence, Ishan Kishan took on the role of opening the innings alongside Rohit. In a challenging chase of 200, India found themselves in dire straits at 2 for 3, as Kishan, Rohit, and Shreyas Iyer all departed without scoring.
However, the team demonstrated resilience and eventually achieved the target with six wickets to spare and 52 balls remaining.
The same opening pair of Rohit and Kishan was retained for the Afghanistan match, and the improvement in their performance was evident: Rohit scored a blistering 131 off 84 balls, while Kishan contributed a run-a-ball 47. This resulted in India winning by eight wickets.
Shubman Gill has been a standout performer in ODIs this year, leading the charts in run-scoring with an impressive 1230 runs at an average of 72.35 and a strike rate of 105.03. In his last four ODIs, he has notched up two centuries and a half-century.
- Shubman Gill
