Abhishek Sharma hospitalized with stomach infection; Sanju Samson likely to open with Ishan Kishan

Indian explosive opening batter Abhishek Sharma has been hospitalised ahead of the game against Namibia after suffering a stomach infection. Notably, Sharma is likely to miss the Namiia clash on Thursday, February 12, in Delhi.

In the first game against the USA, Abhishek was dismissed for a golden duck off Ali Khan. In the second innings, Sanju Samson came out to the field as a substitute for Sharma, who wasn’t part of the field in the USA’s chase.

Also, according to reports, Abhishek skipped India's first training session in Delhi on Tuesday, February 10. Speaking at the pre-game press conference, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate is unclear about Sharma’s participation against Namibia.

“Abhi (Abhishek) still has a few issues with his tummy. We are hopeful that he’ll be available for the game in two days’ time,” Ryan told the reporters ahead of the game.

Notably, Samson is expected to replace Abhishek and take the field alongside Ishan Kishan. However, Samson failed with the willow in the just-concluded New Zealand series with his scores reading 10, 6, 0, 24, and 6.

Furthermore, Ryan is hopeful of Jasprit Bumrah regaining his full fitness after he was ruled out of the campaign opener against the USA and was replaced by Mohammed Siraj, who scalped three wickets. Moreover, he also talked about Washington Sundar’s place in the XI.

“Booms (Bumrah) will bowl today as well. He's been what, ten days without bowling, but he's feeling a lot better and moving a lot better. So we'll see how training goes today and tomorrow and then put the team together on Friday," he added.

"He (Sundar) does fit into one of our combinations where we can play three spinners. The luxury of having four all-rounders in the squad is that you can change the combination. So there are combinations where he fits into three, or the combination where he replaces one of the spinners. And again, I think more around what we have available for this next game is going to be important,” the assistant coach concluded.

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