India held their final practice session before the World Cup opener against Australia in Chennai. Rohit Sharma & Co will be looking to iron out any wrinkles before the IND vs AUS clash on Sunday. Ahead of the practice, Rohit Sharma said that Shubman Gill is being given time and the youngster is yet to be ruled out.
IND vs AUS: Shubman Gill down with dengue
Yesterday, there were reports that Gill had tested positive for dengue, which could rule him out of India’s opening match. The Indian team management is closely monitoring Shubman Gill’s recovery. If Gill is not fit in time for the World Cup opener against Australia, Ishan Kishan or KL Rahul will probably open the innings with Rohit Sharma.
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India is also facing concerns in their bowling lineup. They must make a decision between including an extra spinner or a third seamer. This decision is likely to be finalized in today’s practice session at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
India’s pace options consist of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and the all-rounder Hardik Pandya. In terms of spin, India has two all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, along with Kuldeep Yadav.
It seems that India is most likely to go with Ashwin as a third spinner in the IND vs AUS clash. This means that Thakur will miss out, considering the possibility of a gripping pitch at the Chepauk and Ravichandran Ashwin’s abilty to turn the ball.
Ashwin spent a significant amount of time at the nets working on his batting. He faced balls from the side-arm specialists in the squad before testing himself against the regular Indian bowlers and a set of local net bowlers.
He looked particularly impressive with his aerial shots, which could be useful if he bats at No. 8. After that, he also bowled for a long period of time to Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Thakur, and others.
