Star India opener Shubman Gill and all-rounder Shardul Thakur have been reportedly rested for the upcoming third and final ODI against Australia, scheduled to be held in Rajkot on Wednesday.
Gill, who is the leading run-getter in the ongoing three-match ODI series with 178 runs from two matches, will now miss out a chance to topple Pakistan skipper Babar Azam in the ICC ODI ranking.
Before the start of the series against the Aussies, Gill, who was on 814 rating points compared to Babar’s 857, needed 200 runs to become the No. 1 ODI batsman ahead of the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. The in-form opener will now end the series with just 22 runs short of becoming the No. 1 batter in ODI cricket.
Meanwhile, regular skipper Rohit Sharma and run-machine Virat Kohli, who were rested for the first two ODIs against Australia, will be making a comeback in the third and final ODI.
Also, fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who was also rested for the second ODI in Indore, will be returning to the Indian side for the final game on Wednesday.
According to a report by the Indian Express, both Gill and Thakur will not fly to Rajkot and will instead join the squad in Guwahati for the World Cup 2023 warm-up game against England on September 30.
In the current year, opener Gill has two centuries against New Zealand and one each against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia this year. Meanwhile, Gill is also the leading run-scorer in ODIs in 2023 with 1,230 runs from 20 innings at a fantastic average of 72.35 and with a decent strike rate of 105.03.
The star opener also has a T20I century this year.
“It feels good. We are satisfied as a team, we have the momentum at the right time. It depends on the situation, there’s definitely some confidence,” Gill had said after the 2nd ODI against Australia in Indore.
“I can cover up later, and that confidence is because I am scoring at the moment. With the way KL (Rahul) and Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) played, they kept the momentum going. A target of 400 was going to be difficult on any surface, and the bowlers came out and did their job. I think the six against Green down the ground, it was really special for me,” he had added.
Overall, Gill has amassed 1,692 runs from 39 international innings in all formats of the game, with six tons at an average of 51. Former India great Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian batter to score over 1,800 runs in one calendar year and Gill has a decent chance to break the record with the ODI World Cup just round the corner.