Two days before the ICC World Cup 2023 opener against five-time winners Australia, Team India was dealt a major blow when it was revealed that in-form opener Shubman Gill had tested positive for dengue. As a result, he is likely to miss the game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Gill has reportedly been sick and afflicted with dengue illness. India's opening World Cup match against Australia in Chennai on Sunday may be disastrous if the ace batter is absent. India recently defeated the five-time world champions at home, winning the series 2-1; yet, Gill's absence from the opening game against such a strong team is a major blow.
For India this year, Gill has excelled in all formats. Gill has scored 1230 runs in 20 one-day internationals, the most by a hitter in 2023, with a brilliant average of 72.35 and five centuries. Along with half-centuries, this also features a fiery double century versus New Zealand. Even though India has backup players to cover for an injured Gill, the absence of the game's in-form opener on Sunday is likely to cause some confusion within the Indian team.
Gill could not be able to play for India against Afghanistan on October 11 since the maximum recovery time from dengue fever is seven days, and it may take longer if the disease is severe. Next Sunday's match against Pakistan will be played at the star batter's favoured location of Ahmedabad, therefore the management would want to make sure he is fully fit for the match.
Notably, Gill was dropped from the Indian team before to the third ODI match against Australia on September 27. Rohit Sharma announced that he would only be able to choose 13 players for the news conference since some players had already returned home and others were attending to personal concerns. With new information coming to light, Gill may very well fall into the latter category. The only famous batter absent from India's first practise session at the Chepauk on Thursday was the opener.
The first significant blow for India's World Cup campaign comes from Gill's sickness, which is added to the long list of difficulties the squad has faced in previous tournaments. The squad had to contend with two injuries during the 2019 World Cup, with then-captain Kohli having to deal with the loss of Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar at various points in the competition. Dhawan's left wrist fracture and Shankar's toe injury, both all-rounders for Tamil Nadu, opened the door for Rishabh Pant's participation in the team.
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In addition to giving India a left-right combination at the top of the order—a tactic that seasoned players like Ravi Shastri have emphasized—this change would also place Ishan back to the spot from where he recorded the quickest ODI double-century ever against Bangladesh the previous year.
With 409 runs scored in 13 innings and four fifty-plus scores, Ishan has been in exceptional form this year. His ability to bat in a variety of places is seen from his standout performances. He opened the batting against the West Indies and amassed a hat-trick of half-centuries, scoring 52, 55, and 77. Later, his valiant 82-run innings while batting at No. 5 against Pakistan in India's Asian Cup debut further demonstrated his versatility and batting power.
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