India batter Ishan Kishan became a butt of jokes on social media after reports confirmed that first-choice opener Shubman Gill will miss the team's World Cup game against Afghanistan and could be out of the side's blockbuster clash against Pakistan on Saturday.

With Shubman Gill out of the Rohit Sharma-led side, Ishan Kishan is an automatic choice for the Indian team management for the time being.

It led to Ishan Kishan's mockery on X, previously Twitter, as netizens shared memes where he was celebrating Shubman Gill's sickness.

 

According to media reports, Shubman Gill had been suffering from dengue fever for the past couple of days, 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.

“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.

Moreover, Team India doctor Rizwan stayed with him in Chennai to ensure he's back in recovery mode sooner rather than later.

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.

Previously, Rohit Sharma stated that Shubman Gill was sick. But there was no injury concern regarding him.

“The mood is pretty good as it is before the start of every big tournament. We've come into this tournament prepared really well, so quite confident about us skill-wise. We're looking forward to the game. Everybody's fit. Gill is not 100 percent, but he's sick. So, there's no injury concern. Gill is not feeling well. We are monitoring him on a daily basis. We're going to give him every chance to recover and see how he feels. So, he's not ruled out yet,” Rohit Sharma said in a pre-match media briefing ahead of the Australia game.

In the absence of Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan partnered Rohit Sharma at the top of the order in India's first fixture of the World Cup against Australia in Chennai.

But Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan failed to trouble the scorers as they could not find a way past the Australian pacers.

Thanks to Virat Kohli and KL Rahul's mammoth rescue act, India succeeded in ensuring a winning start to their World Cup campaign.

Yet the failure of India's openers exposed the frailties of their top order, showcasing how important Shubman Gill was for Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid's scheme of things in the competition.

After all, 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.

While the team management has yet to confirm if he will miss India's clash against Pakistan in Ahmedabad on Saturday, his absence will be a setback for the Rohit Sharma-led side's chances in the contest.

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.

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,” former 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 signed off.