Shubman Gill's likely return to Team India's playing XI in the blockbuster clash against Pakistan in the 2023 Cricket World Cup on Saturday sparked hilarious reactions online.

After missing India's first two fixtures in the prestigious competition due to dengue fever, Shubman Gill was all set to replace Ishan Kishan in the line-up against Pakistan after skipper Rohit Sharma claimed that he was “99 percent” fit and available for the mammoth encounter.

“Shubman Gill is 99% available, we will see tomorrow,” Rohit Sharma said on Friday.

Two-time World Cup winner and Shubman Gill's mentor during his formative years, Yuvraj Singh, predicted that the probability of the Fazilka-born cricketer playing against Pakistan was high.

“Shubham Gill ko maine tagda kar diya hai [I have strengthened Shubham Gill]. I told him that I had played in the World Cup while battling cancer, so I got ready quickly to join the team. Hopefully, he will be ready for the India vs Pakistan game. When you have a fever and dengue it is really tough to play a cricket match and I have experienced that. So I hope that if he is fit then he will definitely play,” Yuvraj Singh said.

Media persons clicked Shubman Gill practicing at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad before Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh gave an update about his fitness. Besides facing deliveries from veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and fast bowler Mohammed Shami, the young opener trained hard under the supervision of batting coach Vikram Rathour.

 

Shubman Gill's return will be a huge boost for the Indian cricket team, considering that he's known for giving blistering starts to the side at the top of the order.

Shubman Gill's return will be a big boost for the Indian cricket team, considering he's known for giving blistering starts to the side at the top of the order.

Shubman Gill has been under the spotlight amid the Rohit Sharma-led team's quest for a third World Cup title at home.

Shubman Gill has been in imperious form, having scored the most runs in ODIs in 2023.

His 2023 stats read like this – 1,230 in 20 games. Additionally, his runs have come at an impressive average of 72.35 and an outstanding strike rate of 105.03.

Also, Shubman Gill has smashed six centuries, the most by a player in the 50-over format this year.

The last time Shubman Gill played against Pakistan, his explosive innings at the top, set the tone for India's biggest win over their arch-rivals in the Asia Cup in September.

According to media reports, Shubman Gill experienced a bout of dengue fever during India's World Cup games against Australia and Afghanistan, and a BCCI medical team was monitoring his health closely.

But he was shifted to a Chennai hospital after his platelet count dropped to around 70,000. However, after being put under observation at a medical facility, the Indian top-order batter recovered before being discharged on Tuesday.

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“Shubman Gill was on drip at the Chennai team hotel for the last couple of days. However his platelet count dropped to 70,000 and as it is a case with dengue patients, once the count is below 100,000, you are admitted to a medical facility as a precautionary measure. Once the count again goes above 100,000, he would be discharged,” an Indian Cricket Board official said in a conversation with a media outlet.

Reportedly, the Punjab-born cricketer had to undergo treatment at Chennai's ‘Kauvery' hospital, among the finest in India.

Earlier, the BCCI said that Shubman Gill will not be available for India's match against Afghanistan due to the same illness.

“Team India batter Shubman Gill will not be traveling 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 said in a statement.

Before the World Cup, many cricket pundits, including South Africa legend AB de Villiers and ex-India pacer Zaheer Khan, predicted that Shubman Gill would emerge as the leading run scorer in the quadrennial event.

“His technique and style is quite simple and basic generally what you say about some of the best players in the world. You get some exception like Steve smith, who has got a very different technique, he jumps across the crease, gets down the wicket or out of the crease in the line of the bowlers channels specifically in the Test cricket but he also dies in the ODIs,” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

“Whereas Shubman Gill is much more traditional, very straight forward technique. He doesn't try a lot of different things. He does have a lot of strength where he can change the gears and put a lot of pressure on the bowlers,” he elaborated.

“In the IPL we saw that front arm pull off relatively full length which wasn't even short. He has got this incredible ability to picking up the length very quickly. You generally see that with some of the best players in the world and Shubman is very quickly becoming one of them,” the former South African skipper explained.

“He is still young, which is incredible because he looks like an experienced campaigner already. We are going to heard a lot about him in the future and in this World Cup as I think he is going to be the top run scorer,” AB de Villiers mentioned.

“Well, look at his year. Year 2023 has been a phenomenal year for him. He's been scoring hundreds, double hundreds, across formats. Very consistent. I've actually mentioned that, he's going to be the leading scorer for this tournament,” ex-India pacer Zaheer Khan asserted.

“That's the kind of year he's having. He's got the potential. He's batting in the top order. It all depends on how you set the tone for the tournament. You know, for a for a batter like like him, If the first couple of innings he gets into the World Cup with nice innings under his belt, then it's just going to be a really great World Cup for him,” he continued.

“And I will not be surprised if he's one of the leading run scorers for the tournament,” Zaheer Khan concluded.

India will face Pakistan for the eighth time in the ICC ODI World Cups on Saturday, with the present record between the two sides reading 7-0 in favor of the Men in Blue.