India and Pakistan will resume their historic rivalry when they clash in the ICC World Cup 2023 game at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, October 14. Pakistan team arrived in Ahmedabad on Wednesday evening while the Men in Blue landed on Thursday morning after their thumping win over Afghanistan in Delhi.
Both teams received a warm welcome at their respective hotels where they were greeted with a traditional Indian welcome. Teams are expected to conduct early training sessions on Thursday and Friday to kick off their preparations for the much-awaited game on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill also arrived in Ahmedabad on Wednesday night and was spotted batting in the training session on Thursday morning. Gill missed India’s opening two games against Australia and Afghanistan due to unfortunate dengue fever but remains hopeful to make a return during the Pakistan game.
India registered impressive wins in their opening games to occupy the second spot in the group-stage points table. Ishan Kishan opened with Rohit Sharma in the absence of Gill while the pace all-rounder Shardul Thakur came in for Ravichandran Ashwin for the second game against Afghanistan.
Gill’s potential inclusion in the Pakistan game will be a major boost for India. The in-form opener is enjoying a great run across formats in 2023 and boasts impressive numbers at the Ahmedabad venue. Gill is yet to play an ODI game in Ahmedabad but boosts two international centuries at the venue.
India World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav
Pakistan World Cup squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim