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In an unexpected turn of events, Shubman Gill will not be part of India's lineup for their World Cup opener against Australia at Chepauk on Sunday. This revelation came from India's captain, Rohit Sharma, who confirmed the situation during the toss, as Australia's captain, Pat Cummins, chose to bat first. It was disclosed that the team management had been waiting until the last possible moment with the hope that Gill would recover. Unfortunately, the 25-year-old rising star was always in doubt for this highly-anticipated match after contracting dengue fever and missing practice.
The cricket community had seen a glimmer of hope when coach Rahul Dravid mentioned on Friday that Gill was improving and had not been completely ruled out. However, those hopes were dashed when Gill was notably absent from the players who arrived at the venue, and Rohit Sharma made the announcement. As anticipated, Ishan Kishan, who has an impressive record of 448 runs at an average of 74.7 as an ODI opener, will step in to replace Gill at the top of the order.
Rohit Sharma expressed, "Unfortunately, he (Shubman Gill) didn't recover in time, we waited until today morning and he couldn't recover. Ishan comes in to replace him, he will open the batting," after losing the toss.
In another noteworthy development, veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has made a return to the ODI format, representing India at Chepauk after an 11-year hiatus. Ashwin was drafted into the Indian squad as a last-minute replacement for the injured Axar Patel. This match marks Ashwin's first ODI on his home ground at Chepauk since 2012. It is also his second World Cup appearance in Chennai, with his previous appearance being in the 2011 World Cup game against West Indies, where he took 2/41.
Ashwin's last ODI outing at Chennai dates back to December 2012 when he played against Pakistan, finishing wicketless. Despite taking just 5 wickets in 3 ODIs at Chepauk, these statistics provide a sense of reassurance for India, considering the transformation in Ashwin's gameplay over the past 11 years.
The Indian Playing XI for this crucial match includes Rohit Sharma as captain, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul as the wicketkeeper, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.
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