New Delhi, February 12: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has provided a medical update on World No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma, who was unavailable for selection for India’s match against Namibia on Thursday.
The Indian cricket board confirmed that Abhishek is still recovering from his illness and the BCCI medical team will closely monitor his progress.
“Abhishek Sharma is still recovering from his illness and was unavailable for selection. The BCCI medical team is closely monitoring his progress,” BCCI wrote on X.
Earlier, the Indian opener was hospitalised due to a stomach infection, according to a BCCI source.
The southpaw was not looking well during the team dinner at the head coach Gautam Gambhir’s residence on Sunday, and was the first to leave the dinner.
Ahead of the Namibia clash, during the pre-match press conference on February 11, Indian batter Tilak Varma confirmed that Abhishek had been discharged from the hospital and was recovering from his injury.
Meanwhile, Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus won the toss and elected to bowl first during his side’s ICC T20 World Cup match against India at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.
Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus said during the toss, “We are going to have a bowl. It is a very good flat cricketing surface; from a surface and dew point point of view, it is the right thing to do. It is about tightening our skillset. Looks like a good wicket, try and chase it in the second half. That is why we play cricket, to entertain.”
For India, with Sanju Samson getting his spot in place of Abhishek.
Speaking during the toss, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said, “We were looking to bat first. Very happy with it. As long as we are losing the toss and winning the game, we are fine with it. It’s a big tournament, and this dew is going to be a big factor, but when you bat first and go out and defend, I think it gives you a lot of confidence. It’s a very good wicket. Hopefully, batters go out and enjoy themselves. Abhishek is still not fine; he will miss a game or two. Sanju comes in, a similar batter, explosive. Jasprit (Bumrah) comes in for (Mohammed) Siraj.”
Namibia (Playing XI): Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus(captain), JJ Smit, Zane Green(wicketkeeper), Ruben Trumpelmann, Malan Kruger, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, Max Heingo.
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan(wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(captain), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
