Men’s ODI WC: Shubman Gill comes back as India win toss, elect to bowl first against Pakistan

Ahmedabad: Opener Shubman Gill is back in India’s playing eleven after recovering from illness as captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against arch-rivals Pakistan in the highly-anticipated 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Saturday.

Both teams, having four points, boast of twin wins in the tournament so far, which adds another layer as 1,32,000 fans will be witness to a brand new chapter being added to the India-Pakistan rivalry. In ODI World Cups, India have a 7-0 stronghold over Pakistan.

“Gill is back in place of Ishan, unfortunate for Ishan to miss out, feel for him, he stepped up when we needed him. Gill has been a special player for us over the past year or so, especially at this ground and we wanted him back,” said Rohit, as the crowd shouted loudly on Gill being in the playing eleven.

Apart from Gill set to play his first Men’s ODI World Cup game, when India won the toss, the large crowd roared in huge delight. “Cannot get bigger than this, fantastic atmosphere. Sure lot of us are going to experience something really extraordinary.”

Rohit also feels dew can be a factor when India walk out to chase. “It’s a good track, not going to change much, dew could be a big factor and keeping that in mind, we want to bowl first. We want to keep striving for the best, we want to come out there and give our best in every game. Keeping the atmosphere in the team relaxed is the most important thing in a tournament like this.”

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said his team is unchanged. “We were looking to field as well. We have had good two wins. Momentum is very high and we want to continue that. Jampacked stadium, we are enjoying our opportunity, and just want to enjoy. We have to be good in the field. We have had good practice sessions.”

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf

IANS