There is good news in story for Indian cricket fans as opener Shubman Gill has started batting in the nets just a few hours after he landed in Ahmedabad ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023 clash against Pakistan on Saturday.
Gill arrived in the city on Wednesday night after spending a few extra days in Chennai where he was getting treatment for dengue.
His platelet count had dropped to 70,000 last week and had to be admitted to a Chennai hospital for routine medical tests and was discharged after 24 hours.
Gill doubtful for Pakistan clash
The 24-year-old stylish right-handed batter missed India's first two matches against Australia and Afghanistan in Chennai and Delhi.
He remains doubtful for India's third match against Pakistan, which will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera on Saturday (Octover 14).
"His recovery has been fine but can't really be sure if he can play against Pakistan," a BCCI official told PTI.
Ishan Kishan replaced Gill as the opener in the last two ODIs and registered scores of 0 and 47.
Importance of Gill in India's playing XI
The return of Gill will be a big boost for India even though he is likely to miss another game in this tournament. He has been the team's most prolific batter in ODIs this year, having amassed 1230 runs at an average of 72.35 and a strike rate of 105.03.
There is a school of thought that even if Gill is 70 per cent fit, he could be more effective than a flashy Ishan Kishan but a bout of dengue weakens the body considerably and it would only be fair to allow him to be 100 per cent fit before Bangladesh game on October 19 in Pune.
