India Vs Australia Cricket World Cup 2023 Predicted Playing 11: Ishan Kishan To Play In Place Of Shubman Gill?

World Cup 2023 LIVE Updates: With Shubman Gill down with dengue, it is likely that he will miss the opening game vs Australia with Ishan Kishan taking his place in the playing 11.

Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan. (Source: ANI)

India are in a spot of bother ahead of their Cricket World Cup 2023 opener vs Australia. The worry is a big one as star opener Shubman Gill, who has been in terrific form of late, has caught the bug of dengue and is resting in his hotel room because of high fever. The timing of the illness worries India who look for a winning start in their World Cup campaign. Shubman will be tested for dengue again on October 6 (Friday). If he is fit enough and has recovered from fever after testing negative for dengue, Shubman is likely to play the Australia match.

What happens if Shubman does not recover in time?

If Shubman fails to recover from the dengue fever, India will be forced to make a change. The two options for India to replace Shubman at the top will be Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul. The fact that Rahul is India's middle order batter now who also keeps wicket, captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid may not ask him to take up the opener's job. In that case, Kishan will be the ideal choice to open the innings. Not to forget, Kishan has done the job previously as he opened the innings in the West Indies.

Chances are high that R Ashwin plays in Chennai as the surface over their is low and slow. Ashwin likes bowling on his home turf and Rohit would want to extract as much benefit from the track as possible.

As far as Australia are concerned, Travis Head should miss the opener as he has not recovered from the hand injury. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc should be the two frontline pacers. Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell will be the two spinners. Mitchell Marsh and David Warner should open the innings with Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith following at no 3 and 4.

The countdown has begun! _

Only 3_ days to go now for #TeamIndia's opening fixture of #CWC23 _ pic.twitter.com/t6seGym4jb

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 5, 2023

Australia will be playing three genuine all-rounders in form of Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green and Maxwell. Alex Carey should be the wicketkeeper, who plays in the late middle order for Australia.

India Vs Australia World Cup Match Probable Playing 11s

India Likey 11 for Australia: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaspri Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Australia Probable XI: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc