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Shubman Gill revealed Rishabh Pant missed practice due to viral fever ahead of India’s clash against Pakistan.
Rishabh Pant (Image: AFP)
Indian ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill has revealed that wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been down with viral fever, which also made him miss the team’s practice session on the eve of the high-octane clash against Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy on Sunday.
Pant is part of the squad as the backup wicketkeeper. KL Rahul made the position in India’s ODI set-up his own when the left-hander was injured after his near-fatal car accident. Rahul has also not done much wrong either, with a 452-run ODI World Cup in 2023 and fifties against South Africa and England. He also scored an unbeaten 41 in India’s Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh, which helped them to a six-wicket win.
“Firstly, Rishabh is, I think, down with viral; that is why he did not come for practice,” Gill said on the eve of the Pakistan game on Saturday (February 22).
There have been some calls to include Pant in the team because, under Gautam Gambhir’s tutelage, Rahul has been pushed back to number six, which is a finishing role that hasn’t been able to bring out his best, yet. Some observers feel Pant as a hard-hitting left-hander might be better suited to it.
However, the team management and captain Rohit Sharma have all publically backed Rahul to retain his place for the foreseeable future.
‘Mental aspect plays a role’: Gill on his BGT struggles
Gill, too, was facing some doubts about his ODI place despite being India’s best batter in the format in 2023, all due to his difficult time in the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy. While fighting injuries and competition, he could score just 93 runs in five innings at an average of 18.60.
As soon as he returned to ODI cricket with the three-match series against England, he scored a 112 and followed it up with an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh.
“In Australia, I don’t think there was any major flaw in my game that kept me from scoring runs. However, the mental aspect plays a role. When we struggle to score, we often assume there’s a technical issue, but that’s not always the case. I knew the white-ball series was coming up, and I was confident I’d perform well—and that’s exactly what happened,” Gill said.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
