India suffered a major setback during their chase of 259 in the first ODI against England at Edgbaston. In the 26th over of the chase, captain Shubman Gill retired hurt after scoring a fluent 80 off 75 balls. He was struggling with a leg injury for a while, as the Indian team doctors checked on him earlier in the 24th over of the game.
He was given plenty of water, as stretching was done on his right leg by the physio. On-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena eventually intervened and asked the Indian team to hurry up. Gill eventually did and planned to carry on. However, shortly after stitching a 101-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer, he appeared to be in discomfort again. Gill removed his gloves, crouched on the field and clutched the back of his right leg before deciding to walk off.ย
Now, even though the exact nature of the injury has not been immediately confirmed, the initial signs suggested it could be cramps. As he walked off, Washington Sundar joined Iyer in the middle.ย
Gillโs knock saves India after two quick wickets
Gill’s knock had steadied India’s innings after the visitors were rocked by the early dismissals of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rohit managed 11 before holing out to Harry Brook off Sam Curran, while Kohli fell for five in the following over after being trapped lbw by Jofra Archer.
Leading from the front, Gill countered England’s early breakthroughs with positive strokeplay and ensured India regained control of the chase. His partnership with Shreyas shifted the momentum firmly in India’s favour before the injury interrupted the visitors’ progress.
Meanwhile, soon after Gill was forced to walk out, Shreyas Iyer was involved in a run-out. Indiaโs T20I captain departed for 35 runs and soon after that, KL Rahul soon followed suit for one run.ย
Earlier, England posted 258 after recovering from 107/6, thanks to crucial half-centuries from Joe Root and Liam Dawson. India had dominated for large parts of the innings, with Axar Patel claiming four wickets to restrict the hosts to a below-par total. However, India will now be tested, with no specialist batters left for them to rescue. Since less than 100 runs are required now to win, they are still in contention.ย
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