Ahead of the high-voltage World Cup 2023 clash against Pakistan in Ahmedabad on October 14, Team India are sweating over the fitness of their star opener Shubman Gill.
Notably, Gill is down with dengue fever and didn’t feature in India’s World Cup opener against Australia at Chepauk on October 8 and is set to miss the Afghanistan clash in Delhi on October 11.
While Shubman is racing against time to be fit for the Pakistan game, his platelet count went down to 90,000 per micro litre following dengue, TOI reported.
For a normal male athlete, the platelet count should be between 1.5 lakhs to 4.5 lakhs per micro litre of blood.
Doctors privy to the development feel that Gill’s platelet count may go up in the next couple of days, but it is highly unlikely that he will regain match fitness before October 14.
"The sensible thing will be to ease him back. There is a five-day gap after Pakistan game for India and it might be a better idea to play him against Bangladesh on October 19," TOI quoted a source as saying.
Meanwhile, senior PTI correspondent Kushan Sarkar has tweeted that Shubman Gill has been discharged from the hospital in Chennai, where he was admitted after his platelet count went down on Monday (October 9).
Earlier, the BCCI issued a medical update on Gill, confirming that he would stay back in Chennai and continue his recovery, and that he was set to miss the Afghanistan match in Delhi.
"Team India batter Shubman Gill will not be travelling with the team to Delhi on 9th October 2023. The opening batter who missed the team's first fixture in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 against Australia in Chennai is set to miss the team's next fixture against Afghanistan in Delhi on the 11th of October. He will stay back in Chennai and will be under the supervision of the medical team," the BCCI statement said.
Ishan Kishan replaced Shubman Gill in India’s playing XI for the game against Australia but the southpaw failed to make a mark. Kishan was dismissed by Mitchell Starc for a golden duck.
However, India defeated Australia by six wickets to open their World Cup campaign in a positive style.
