Shubman Gill has returned for the India-Pakistan World Cup 2023 clash after missing the first two matches due to dengue fever, while Shardul Thakur has retained his place over Ravichandran Ashwin.

India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first after winning the toss as India look to stretch their 7-0 advantage in the fixture at the men’s ODI World Cup. Gill, who missed the encounters against Australia and Afghanistan because of dengue, returned to the playing XI. He replaced southpaw batter Ishan Kishan in the line-up. Gill is the leading run-scorer across all teams in ODI’s in 2023, amassing 1230 runs at an average of 72.35.

Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur was preferred over Ravichandran Ashwin for the high-voltage clash. The usage of black soil in preparing the Ahmedabad pitch might have contributed to this decision, with a high-scoring encounter is on the cards.

The home team looked in ominous touch in their first two matches. During their last match versus Afghanistan, a 131 (84) blitz from skipper Rohit helped the ‘Men in Blue’ to hunt down  273 in 35 overs.

Pakistan are playing in India for the first time since the 2016 T20I World Cup. In their previous outing against Sri Lanka, Babar Azam’s side pulled off the highest run-chase in the tournament’s history. Chasing 345, Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique put on a clinic as they both racked up tons to knock off the daunting target. They named an unchanged XI for today’s epic clash.

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