Shubman Gill, Team India’s opener, blamed his decision to withdraw injured in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand on the “after-effects of dengue” and the humid circumstances in Mumbai. However, he confirmed that he is playing at Sunday’s World cup finals in Ahmedabad.
In Mumbai Wankhede Stadium last week Wednesday, in the opening match of the semifinals against New Zealand, India won by seventy runs. Batting first, the Men in Blue produced 397/4 with tons from Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. Gill, who contributed 80*, retired injured on 79 in India’s 23rd over before returning to bat toward the conclusion of the innings.
Gill discussed his choice to walk off the field due to fitness difficulties at a post-game press conference.
“It started with cramps and then I pulled my hamstring a little bit. It was quite humid and just the after-effects of dengue.”
Shubman Gill
It should be noted that Gill missed India’s first two World Cup games due to dengue fever. The opener revealed that he has lost a little muscular mass as a result of the sickness.
“I have honestly not really adjusted anything in terms of my batting but because I have lost a bit of muscle mass, I think the reserve that I used to have before the dengue has decreased a little bit. You do get cramps when you’re playing in humid conditions, but for me [it] happens after a long period of time, not so soon. But because I think I’ve lost a bit of muscle mass; the reserve has gone down a bit,” the 24-year-old elaborated.
Shubman Gill
Following Gill’s departure, Kohli and Shreyas contributed 163 runs to maintain Team India ahead.
“It didn’t matter whether I made a century or not” – Shubman Gill
While Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer got hundreds, Shubman Gill had the opportunity to do the same until he stepped out due to discomfort. He returned to bat with barely five balls remained in India’s innings. The opener, on the other hand, expressed happiness with his role on the squad.
“If I didn’t get cramp, maybe I would have scored a hundred,” he admitted. “But I think the total we were trying to reach, irrespective of whether I scored a hundred or not, we reached there. We had a hope of scoring around 400, we had expectations that by the 25th-30th over we should have scored these many runs, and we did that, so it didn’t matter whether I made a century or not.”
Shubman Gill
The graceful hitter hit eight fours and three sixes before being taken from the field due to cramps.