Ahead of the India-Pakistan match during the ICC Cricket World Cup at Ahmedabad, a fan from Bengaluru arrived in the city with a humorous banner about the ‘mosquito’ that kept India’s star batter Shubman Gill out of action due to dengue for the first two matches of the tournament against Australia and Afghanistan.
India and Pakistan will lock horns with each other at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. After Gill missed out on the first two matches of the tournament, this match will mark his World Cup debut.
The fan from Bengaluru told ANI, “I want that Shubman Gill to play. If he plays, we will paste “Welcome” over “Miss
You” (written on the banner). I am also a Virat Kohli fan. I hope that today’s match will be a big-scoring one, everyone plays well and we win the game. I felt really bad when Gill was down with dengue because he was in really good form this year. I hope everyone, Gill, Virat, and Rohit score well and we win this game.”
During the pre-match press conference, skipper Rohit Sharma was quizzed about whether Gill would be in contention to play against Pakistan, to which he replied, “99 per cent he (Gill) will be available. We will see tomorrow (Saturday) about that.”
The Indian opener was in Chennai where he was being treated, and could not take part in India’s first two matches of the tournament.
Due to the illness, Gill was hospitalized but batting coach Vikram Rathour said, “He was hospitalized, yes, but that was more as a precaution.”
In 20 ODIs this year, Gill has scored 1,230 runs at an average of 72.35 and a strike rate of just above 105. He has scored five centuries and five fifties this year, with the best of 208.
The rivalry between India and Pakistan in cricket is one of the most fierce in the world, with matches between the two countries receiving significant global viewership.
This match comes after India’s two matches against the arch-rivals during a winning Asia Cup campaign. One match, held in the group stage was abandoned due to rain while India registered a thumping win in the next clash during the Super Four stage.
Also Read: ODI World Cup: Shubman Gill ‘99% Available’ For India Vs Pakistan Game, Says Rohit Sharma
India began their World Cup campaign with a victory over Australia, while Pakistan has two victories in two matches to build momentum ahead of the major encounter.
Fans will be hoping that megastars of Men in Blue, such as Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj keep up their consistent performances to continue the country’s winning streak with Pakistan in 50-over World Cups and come out with 8-0 win against the arch-rivals in the World Cup.
India has dominated the head-to-head record in ODI World Cup matches with ‘Men in Blue’ winning all seven games against the arch-rival, boasting a 100 per cent win record till now.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
Source: ANI
