Is Shubman Gill playing today? Analysing India’s batting order for IND vs PAK match

Team India opener Shubman Gill is set to play his first match of the ongoing 2023 World Cup. The talented youngster missed the team's first two matches of the ICC event due to illness.

Gill returned to India's playing XI for the side's much-anticipated clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14.

The 24-year-old's presence will bolster Team India's batting lineup, given his impeccable record at the venue. Furthermore, he is currently the leading run-getter in ODIs this year, chalking up 1,230 runs in 20 innings at a fantastic average of 72.35.

Gill will open the innings with skipper Rohit Sharma, who delivered an exceptional 131-run knock in India's previous encounter against Afghanistan. Virat Kohli has also been in fabulous touch so far, having notched up two back-to-back half-centuries.

While Shreyas Iyer bagged a golden duck against Australia, he came up with a decent unbeaten knock of 25 against Afghanistan. KL Rahul will also be high on confidence after a stellar innings of 97* against Australia. The remaining batters didn't get a chance to do much in the first two fixtures.

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Shubman Gill replaced Ishan Kishan in India's playing XI for 2023 World Cup match vs Pakistan

Keeper-batter Ishan Kishan made way for the returning Shubman Gill for the Men in Blue's encounter against Pakistan. The southpaw scored 47 off as many balls against Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first. Explaining his decision, here's what he said at the toss:

"We will bowl first, cannot get bigger than this, fantastic atmosphere. Sure lot of us are going to experience something really extraordinary. 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."

Pakistan's XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

India's XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj