An 8 wicket win over Afghanistan and the Indian cricket team now moves to Ahmedabad for their big-ticket clash against Pakistan on Saturday.
Joining the team there will be opener Shubman Gill who has been recovering from dengue and has missed the team's two opening matches of the ICC World Cup 2023. Gill landed in Ahmedabad in the early hours of Thursday, having flown in from Chennai where he was discharged from the hospital a couple of days back.
“He’s recovering well. Yes, he was hospitalised, but it was more though as a precaution. He’s back in the hotel in Chennai and is recovering well. So, he’s being monitored by the medical team. We are hoping that he will recover soon and would be looking good,” India's batting coach Vikram Rathour had said on the eve of the Afghanistan game.
There has been no official update on Gill's recovery since and it is not known whether he will be fit to play Saturday's fixture.
Gill has been a vital cog in the wheel in India’s ODI scheme of things for over a year and a half. He is the current leading run-getter in the format this year, amassing 1230 runs at an average of 72.35 and a strike rate of 105.03, including hitting two centuries and as many fifties in his last four ODI games.
In Gill's absence, left-handed wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan opened the innings with captain Rohit Sharma, against Australia and Afghanistan.
While the Indian team will reach Ahmedabad on Thursday, the Pakistan team reached the city on Wednesday following their 6 wicket win over Sri Lanka on Tuesday in Hyderabad.
Pakistan in fact have won both their matches so far in this ICC World Cup 2023 having started their campaign with an 81 run win over Netherlands on 6 October.
(With inputs from IANS)
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