Shubman Gill to miss India's match against Afghanistan in ICC World Cup, confirms BCCI

The BCCI has confirmed that Team India will miss the services of opener Shubman Gill in their second match of the ICC World Cup against Afghanistan.

Rohit Sharma's Team India will miss the services of Indian opener Shubman Gill in their upcoming match against Afghanistan at the ICC World Cup 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed on Monday. Gill will not be travelling with Rohit and Co. to Delhi today. The opening batter missed India's first fixture in the ICC World Cup 2023 against Australia in Chennai. Providing a crucial health update about the Indian opener, the BCCI revealed that Gill will stay back in Chennai.

Shubman Gill plays a shot during a practice prior to a a warm-up match between India and England (AFP)

The Indian will be under the supervision of the medical team. Gill's availability for India's World Cup 2023 opener against Pat Cummins' Australia was in doubt after multiple reports suggested that the Indian batter is suffering from dengue. Though Gill became a doubtful starter, Indian skipper Rohit refused to rule out the star batter from India's crucial fixture against Australia. However, Rohit later confirmed that Gill hasn't recovered in time and India opted to replace the unwell batter with Ishan Kishan.

Kishan to continue in Gill's absence?

Drafted in as Shubman's replacement for India's World Cup opener against Australia, wicketkeeper-batter Kishan opened the innings with skipper Rohit. Gill's like-for-like replacement had a forgetful outing against Australia as Kishan was handed a golden duck by veteran pacer Mitchell Starc at Chennai. In the absence of opener Gill, India managed to upstage Australia by 6 wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. Virat Kohli's brilliant knock of 85 (116) and KL Rahul's unbeaten 97 (115) powered India to an impressive win over the five-time world champions at the Chepauk.

What BCCI said about Gill in medical update

"Team India batter Shubman Gill will not be travelling with the team to Delhi on 9th October 2023. The opening batter who missed the team’s first fixture in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 against Australia in Chennai is set to miss the team’s next fixture against Afghanistan in Delhi on the 11th of October. He will stay back in Chennai and will be under the supervision of the medical team," the apex cricket board said in a statement.

Gill in red-hot form

Gill had an exceptional last 12 months for India, especially in the limited-overs format. The 24-year-old is India's leading run-getter in One Day Internationals (ODIs) this year. Indian opener Gill has amassed 1,230 runs at an average of 72.35. Batting at a strike rate of 105.03, the in-form batter has managed to cross the 50-run mark in half of his innings in the World Cup year. After meeting Afghanistan on October 11 in the national capital, India will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14.