Indian opener Shubman Gill will miss India's upcoming World Cup 2023 fixture against Afghanistan in Delhi on Wednesday.
This development comes after Gill was diagnosed with dengue and was unable to participate in their opening game against Australia in Chennai.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Gill would not accompany the team to Delhi and would instead remain in Chennai under the care of the medical team.
Head coach Rahul Dravid provided an update two days before the Australia match, stating, "He [Gill] is certainly feeling better today than he was yesterday, so that's a positive, but the medical team is monitoring him on a day-to-day basis. We've got 36 hours to go, so we'll see how that goes. We'll wait to take a decision at the last minute we possibly can."
Despite the team's efforts, Gill was unable to recover in time for the match. "We waited until this morning, but unfortunately, he couldn't recover," Rohit Sharma remarked at the toss before the Australia game.
In Gill's absence, Ishan Kishan stepped up to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma. Although India faced early setbacks with a score of 2 for 3 while chasing a target of 200, they managed to recover and secured a comfortable victory with six wickets in hand and 52 balls to spare.
Shubman Gill has been a standout performer in ODIs this year, amassing 1230 runs at an impressive average of 72.35 and a strike rate of 105.03. He has recorded two centuries and a half-century in his last four ODIs.
Following their match against Afghanistan on October 11, the Indian team will head to Ahmedabad for their highly anticipated fixture against Pakistan on October 14.
- Shubman Gill
