“Whenever Dravid says such things, mostly the player has already been ruled out” - Aakash Chopra doesn’t see Shubman Gill playing against Australia 

Aakash Chopra reckons that opener Shubman Gill is unlikely to feature in India’s playing XI in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup against Australia in Chennai on Sunday.

Gill is reportedly down with dengue. At the press conference on Friday, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid stated that the batter has not yet been ruled out and that the medical team is monitoring him. Reacting to Dravid’s statement, Chopra commented that whenever the coach makes such remarks, mostly the player has already been ruled out.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra opened up [0:50] on the Gill situation ahead of the India-Australia 2023 World Cup clash.

“Shubman Gill is unwell. At the press conference, Rahul Dravid said that he’s not too bad and we are watching and we are not ruling him out. But, whenever Rahul Dravid says such things, mostly the player has already been ruled out. I am assuming that Ishan Kishan will open the innings with Rohit Sharma,” he said.

Chopra added that Gill’s possible absence is not good news for India since any team would want to begin their World Cup campaign with their best opening pair.

“It’s not a great story for a simple reason that Shubman and Rohit strike fear [in the minds of the opposition]. It’s not like Ishan won’t be feared, but you want to start the World Cup with your best opening combination. In Mohali as well as in the next game [against Australia in Indore], Gill was in attacking mode. So, it would have been good if he was there, but that is unlikely to be the case,” the former batter added.

Gill scored 74 and 104 in the first two ODIs against Australia in Mohali and Indore, respectively.

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What Rahul Dravid said about Shubman Gill

Speaking to the media on Friday, Dravid confirmed that Gill was ill. He, however, asserted that it was too early to rule him out of the World Cup match against Australia.

“He’s certainly feeling better today [Friday]. The medical team is monitoring on daily basis. We have 36 hours, we’ll see what decision they take. Medical team hasn’t ruled him out as yet. We’ll see how he feels day after tomorrow,” he stated.

Gill has a fantastic record in ODIs. In 35 matches, he has notched up 1917 runs at an average of 66.10 and a strike rate of 102.84, with six hundreds and nine fifties.