India batsman Shubman Gill has not recovered from dengue fever and will miss his team’s second ICC World Cup 2023 match against Afghanistan, officials said Monday.
Gill sat out the hosts’ six-wicket victory against Australia in Chennai on Sunday and will stay back in the southern Indian city “under the supervision of the medical team”.
“Team India batter Shubman Gill will not be travelling with the team to Delhi on 9th October 2023,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.
Rohit Sharma’s India will face Afghanistan at New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
The team will then leave for Ahmedabad for the hotly-anticipated fixture against arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul then scored anchoring half-centuries in a tense run-chase to guide India to a six-wicket victory over Australia in their ICC World Cup 2023 campaign opener.
The hosts had a dismal start to their pursuit as they lost three batters with just two runs on the board as Shubman Gill’s replacement Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer all fell for a duck.
Kohli and Rahul soaked in the pressure and put India in command with a magnificent 165-run partnership which lasted when Kohli fired his pull shot straight to Marnus Labuschagne at mid-wicket in the 38th over.
Star batter Virat Kohli fell short of his well-deserved century as he scored 85. His 116-ball knock featured six boundaries.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul held his ground firm and carried his bat all the way through to guide India to a hard-fought victory to launch their ICC World Cup 2023 campaign with a victory.
He also fell just shy of his century, scoring an unbeaten 97 in 115 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries and two sixes.
Josh Hazlewood led the bowling attack for Australia with 3/38 in his nine overs while Mitchell Starck had a wicket to his name.
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