Srinagar: Team India have given rest to its prolific opener Shubman Gill for the 3rd ODI vs Australia and have sent him home before the start of World Cup 2023.
For the 3rd ODI on September 27 in Rajkot, India will be without the services of two of their star players in Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur and will now join the side during the World Cup campaign.
According to the report on Indian Express on Monday, Gill, who scored his record sixth ODI century at the Holkar Stadium in the second match against the Aussie, and Thakur will be missing the third and final match of the series. They will not fly with the team to Rajkot as they have been given a break by the team management. The duo will next meet up with the Indian team in Guwahati for the India’s first warm-up match for the World Cup.
The Indian team management have been working on planning the workload management for a few players before the World Cup. Earlier, four players in Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav was rested for the first two games against Australia. BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar had explained the move saying: “Luckily we got a fair amount of cricket at the Asia Cup. If not, we would’ve looked at it some other way. More than physical, sometimes guys need a mental break, which isn’t a bad thing leading into a tournament like the World Cup.”
The four players will be available for the third and final match against Australia at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Jasprit Bumrah will also be joining the Indian team in Rajkot after the star bowler was given a break from the second ODI to visit his family, as revealed in a BCCI statement released on Sunday. Mukesh Kumar had replaced him in the squad.