Aakash Chopra has questioned the Indian team management’s lack of transparency on Shubman Gill’s recovery ahead of their game against Afghanistan on Wednesday. The right-handed opener was unable to play in India’s opening World Cup 2023 match against Australia in Chennai because of dengue fever since he arrived in Chennai for the game.
In the match against Australia, Ishan Kishan replaced the opening batter by teaming up with the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday and Shubman Gill hasn’t travelled with the Indian side for the clash against Afghanistan, which puts a question mark on his participation in the marquee clash against Pakistan on Saturday.
Speaking on his YouTube Channel, Aakash Chopra questioned the Indian think-tank on the degree of secrecy upheld regarding Gill’s condition. He emphasised that the information shared before the team’s opening match versus Australia was not the right one.
“Shubman Gill is ill. He has not yet become fit. The Indian team have decided that they will not tell us clearly, that we can keep thinking, we can say it is dengue or whatever we feel like but they will not tell us.”
“When he is not travelling and didn’t come to the ground in the last match, it means he is not in such a good position. The Indian team had claimed that he was getting better, was feeling very well, and that they would decide at the last moment. He is not even fit to go to Delhi and you were saying that you were monitoring him in Chennai,” Aakash Chopra said.
The batter might join the squad in Ahmedabad if conditions get better before the marquee clash against Pakistan on Saturday but is unlikely to take the field without having much practice and recovering from the dengue illness.
I Feel Almost An Identical XI Will Play – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra feels that India would look to stick with the same playing 11 for the clash against Afghanistan with Shubman Gill unavailable for the game in Delhi and believes that the team management would look to give opportunities to Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in the forthcoming matches.
“The class monitor is good but this monitoring is not working out. So Shubman Gill is unavailable for this match as well, which means Gill won’t be there for the India vs Afghanistan clash in Delhi. I feel almost an identical XI will play. I am seeing the scope for just one change,” Aakash Chopra added.
Ishan Kishan had a forgettable debut in the World Cup, as he was dismissed for a golden duck going after opting for a drive of Mitchell Starc’s delivery that was outside the off-stump and the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green grabbed a straightforward catch in the slip cordon. The southpaw would look to turn things around in the next game against Afghanistan.