The indisposed Shubman Gill remains in India’s plans for their World Cup opener against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
Gill, in staggering form this year, is reportedly down with suspected dengue and has missed the training sessions Team India have had since setting foot in the city earlier in the week.
According to sources, Gill was the only Indian cricketer seen to be wearing a mask at the city airport after India’s arrival.
Head coach Rahul Dravid, though, remains optimistic about Gill’s availability for India’s Australia test. “He (Shubman) is certainly feeling better today (Friday) than he was yesterday (Thursday). So, that’s a positive, but our medical team is monitoring his condition on a day-to-day basis,” Dravid said on Friday.
“So, we’ll see how that goes as we still have some time. Whatever decision they (medical team) take, we will see. But he’s certainly feeling little bit better than he was yesterday (Thursday).”
Dravid was specifically asked if Gill is technically yet to be ruled out of Sunday’s big-ticket clash.
“The medical team hasn’t ruled him out yet. But we will be monitoring on a day-to-day basis. We have got a few hours, so we will take a decision at the last minute, possibly if we can. We will see how he feels day after tomorrow (Sunday),” the head coach said.
If Gill fails to be match-fit for Sunday, Ishan Kishan could be the one to open alongside captain Rohit Sharma. During Friday’s nets at the Chepauk, Kishan batted for quite some time in the first phase alongside Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli.
Like his other batters, the left-hander too has been among runs, and importantly, has maintained a good strike rate of late. But he didn’t really look steady at nets on Friday against the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah.
He got beaten on quite a few occasions and some of his shots even when taking throwdowns didn’t look too convincing either. The team management may have a word or two with Kishan even though the Chepauk pitch is expected to be a slow turner.
Stoinis bats
Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, whose hamstring concern made him doubtful for Sunday’s game, batted at nets during their practice session in the afternoon. Stoinis batted under the watchful eyes of Andy Flower, who has rejoined as the team’s batting consultant for this World Cup.
