Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for Shubman Gill and the Indian batter will hope to score big when the team faces Pakistan in a blockbuster clash on October 15 during the ODI World Cup 2023.
Indian batting sensation Shubman Gill has enthralled cricket enthusiasts worldwide with his batting prowess recently. During the recent IPL 2023, the Gujarat Titans' star amassed 890 runs in 17 matches with a strike rate of 157.80. His highest score of 129 came against Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium that helped the Hardik Pandya-led side seal a berth in the grand finale against Chennai Super Kings. What's interesting to note is, in Ahmedabad alone, the batter amassed 533 runs, including 2 centuries and 3 half-centuries, making the iconic stadium one of his favourite hunting grounds. And Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik believes Gill will be raring to go when the team faces Pakistan in a blockbuster encounter on October 15 at the same venue during the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023.
In an interview with ICC, Dinesh Karthik relived how it felt beating Pakistan in the thrilling T20 World Cup encounter last year and spoke about how Shubman Gill will be itching to score a big one against the arch-rivals in the showpiece tournament.
"I want to talk about one match, India vs Pakistan. That's going to be a blockbuster. Last time those two teams met, I was part of Team India in the T20 World Cup and I don't think I've smiled like that for a whole week post the game. That was the kind of impact it had. It took a few days to recover so that is going to be one hell of a game," said Dinesh Karthik.
"The last 6-8 months, Ahmedabad has produced some of the best batting pitches and one man who is definitely going to say yes to that match is Shubman Gill. He has scored a hundred literally everytime he has walked out in Ahmedbad. He is going to take that pitch and put it in his pocket and travel with that everywhere he goes. That's a match that all batters will be really looking forward to," the cricketer added.
In three Test matches played in Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, Shubman Gill has scored 154 runs, which includes a spectacular century of 128 against the mighty Australians in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. Meanwhile, the batting sensation himself appear calm as he was spotted at Mumbai airport on the day ICC announced the schedule for the high-ticket ODI World Cup 2023.
The last time Pakistan played in India was in the T20 World Cup in 2016. Due to the strained relations between the two nations, the two teams compete against one another in ICC competitions and the Asia Cup.
It was expected of the ICC to reject Pakistan's request to move two matches because it typically tackles issues about locations with possible security threats rather than cricket grounds.
It would be interesting to see how the PCB Board responds to the World Cup schedule announcement now that the elections for PCB chairman have been delayed at least until July 17.