Will Shubman Gill play India vs Pakistan on October 14? Opener practises in Ahmedabad after recovering from dengue

Shubman Gill was down with dengue just before the India vs Australia ICC ODI World Cup 2023 game in Chennai last week, and has been out of action ever since.

Fill Photo: Gill, who is recovering steadily from dengue, reached Narendra Modi Stadium around 11.30 am and batted in the nets for nearly an hour. | Photo Credit: PTI

Shubman Gill had an hour-long batting session on Thursday morning, even though his participation in India’s highly anticipated World Cup fixture against Pakistan on October 14 in Ahmedabad remains uncertain.

Gill, recovering from dengue, reached Narendra Modi Stadium around 11.30 a.m. 

While it was a closed-door training session overseen by the BCCI’s medical team, Gill engaged in some preliminary stretching before hitting the nets. Nevertheless, sources suggest that the team management is inclined to exercise patience regarding Gill’s readiness for Saturday’s high-profile match.

Last week, after the team arrived in Chennai from Thiruvananthapuram, Gill fell ill with dengue and has been unable to play since then. Though the team travelled to Delhi after its match against Australia, Gill remained in Chennai, where he was hospitalised due to a drop in his platelet count, which fell below 1,00,000. Even after being discharged from the hospital, he continued to stay at the team hotel and only reached Ahmedabad on Wednesday evening. “He is slowly regaining his fitness, and once he settled in, he looked in good shape,” a source who observed his batting session said.

In the absence of Gill, Ishan Kishan has been opening the innings with captain Rohit Sharma. The Indian team arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon and will practise on the eve of the Pakistan game.