Shubman Gill Not Ruled Out of Australia Fixture, Team Management Willing to Wait

Shubman Gill has tested positive for dengue but the Indian opener is not ruled out of the team’s opening match of the 2023 World Cup against Australia in Chennai on Sunday. Coach Rahul Dravid asserts that the management is ready to wait till the last minute before taking a call and informs the youngster is much better than he was yesterday.

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“Shubman Gill is feeling better. Much better than he was yesterday. We still have 36 hours to go, the medical team is constantly monitoring him. He isn’t ruled out of the game and we will see how he feels the day after tomorrow,” says Dravid during an interaction with the media.

CricketNext has reliably learnt that the 24-year-old started getting symptoms four-five days back and informed the BCCI medical team. Since then, he has been under constant watch and has responded well to the treatment.

“Gill started showing symptoms 4-5 days back. The treatment got underway then only and since then has made good progress and should be back on the park soon,” informs a source close to developments.

The classy right-hander has been India’s in-form batter in the last 12 months and has hardly put a foot wrong in the ODI format. He has already amassed 1230 runs in the format this year and looked very assured in India’s recent outings during the Asia Cup and ODI series vs Australia.

Ishan Kishan to open if Gill fails to recover?

In case Gill fails to get match-ready by Sunday, there is a possibility of Ishan Kishan opening the batting with Rohit Sharma in the opener. With KL Rahul likely to hold on to his No.5 spot, a number where he has enjoyed a lot of success for the Indian cricket team, Kishan is the likely frontrunner to fill in Gill’s shoes.

The aggressive southpaw had a decent hit in the nets on Thursday and looked comfortable while facing the likes of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, the battery of side-armers and spinners R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

It now remains to be seen how long the management waits before taking the Gill call.