Prasad reveals that it was a precautionary move that Gill wasn’t fielded in the playing XI against Afghanistan, otherwise he was fine. He also added that if a player is batting for 1 hour, he is very much fit to play.
New Delhi: The Indian team management are yet to give any update on Shubman Gill’s health as of now despite his training session picture went viral yesterday from Ahmedabad. As per reports, he batted for 1 hour in the nets and he is being under the watchful eyes of the support staff. Former Indian chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad on the other hand, firmly believes that the 24-year old batter will definitely play the match against Pakistan on Saturday at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
“I think we can put an end to all kinds of speculations. Shubman Gill will definitely play this game (vs Pakistan). He’s too good a player to miss out. He had just a fever. He has recovered. It was not threatening at all that we would even think about replacements. It’s all rumours that are coming out (about the seriousness of the illness) in whatever form that you are hearing,” MSK Prasad told hindustantimes.com.
Prasad reveals that it was a precautionary move that Gill wasn’t fielded in the playing XI against Afghanistan, otherwise he was fine. He also added that if a player is batting for 1 hour, he is very much fit to play.
“What we heard was that as a matter of precaution, he couldn’t play the second game otherwise he was fine. He stayed back for one more day in Chennai as a precaution. He recovered well, and was discharged. See if someone is playing for 1 bour that means he has recovered. This is an all-important game against Pakistan. If he is fit, which I’m sure he is, then he should be in India’s playing XI,” he added.
Gill’s record at the Narendra Modi Stadium is phenomenal. He averages 93 combining both T20Is and Tests and also has two hundreds to his name as well. Prasad is aware of it and that is why he feels that the Gujarat Titans man should play there tomorrow.
“This is the ground where he has played his franchise cricket. He understands every blade of grass about this ground. He knows how to get runs here. With the kind of record he has at this ground and the kind of record he had in the last 1 year, he should definitely play. In the first couple of games, especially against Afghanistan, we didn’t require him. The others did the job but now if we look at Pakistan, they are also coming on the back of two wins. It would be very good if we go in with the best possible XI. Ishan of course has done reasonably well in the second game but when a person like Shubman Gill is there, you have one more match-winner to the XI. This is not a T20 game where he needs to go slam-bang. He can take his time, get set, occupy the crease and then see how it goes. Ideally, I would want him in the XI,” the former India keeper-batter expressed.