World Cup 2023: Shubman Gill won’t be able to play against Australia

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Shubman Gill won’t be able to play in India’s first match of the World Cup 2023 against Australia on October 8 due to testing positive for dengue.

According to ESPNcricinfo, In Shubman Gill’s absence, the team is considering two options to open the innings with captain Rohit Sharma: Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul.

Shubman Gill didn’t attend India’s training sessions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday, initially raising hopes that it might just be a minor illness. However, it turned out to be dengue.

Shubman Gill will miss India's opener against Australia after positive for dengue

Ishan Kishan is likely to open the innings with captain Rohit Sharmahttps://t.co/DySMlVHZrn | #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/TvKGjO0wIP

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 6, 2023

The official update from BCCI mentioned, “He is under the weather,” and added, “The medical team is closely monitoring him. We are hoping he gets better soon.”

As for the replacement opener, there’s a debate among fans, with 1.7K votes. Shubman Gill has been in excellent form this year, being the leading run-scorer in ODIs with 1230 runs at an average of 72.35 and a strike rate of 105.03. He even scored two centuries and a half-century in his last four ODIs, two of them against Australia.

On the other hand, Ishan Kishan has shown promise as an opener with three half-centuries in five ODIs this year and an impressive 82 against Pakistan while batting at No. 5. KL Rahul, who recently returned from injury during the Asia Cup, hasn’t opened in an ODI since August 2022, against Zimbabwe. Overall, he has opened 23 times in ODIs, scoring 915 runs at an average of 43.57.