Want to play our WC 11 from next series: Gill

Wary of not being able to field a settled eleven because of injuries and tight scheduling, India skipper Shubman Gill wanted to give regular opportunities to the players who will potentially make it to the ICC World Cup 2027 in the upcoming ODI matches.

India fielded largely second-string players against the West Indies in the just-concluded three-match series, which India won 2-1.

But in the absence of regulars like Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, who were away at the Asian Games, Indian bowling lacked the desired sting.

Additionally, pacer Prasidh Krishna joined the growing injury list during the second ODI at Guwahati.

“I honestly think there is not that much time to experiment. The combination that we want to play, hopefully, we get all the players that are available from the next series, and the combination that we would like to play in the World Cup, we want to start playing with that combination,” Gill said in the post-match press conference, after his side went down by five wickets.

Gill found the rather frequent absence of frontline bowlers from the first eleven frustrating, considering the limited number of ODIs ahead of the ICC showpiece. “I would say it’s been unfortunate, you know, with the injuries and with the scheduling, with the other matches being around, it’s been a little bit unfortunate that we have been not able to play the bowling lineup that we would like to,” he said.