'Khadaa ho jaa aur khel, main do baar dengue mein khela hun'- Yuvraj Singh's message to Shubman Gill ahead of IND-PAK clash

India are all set to take on archrivals Pakistan at home for the first time since 2016. They will lock horns in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14, Saturday.

Ahead of the all-important game, legendary Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh gave a special message to Shubman Gill. The young batter is currently recovering from dengue and had missed the team's opening matches against Australia and Afghanistan, respectively.

During an exclusive chat with News18, Yuvraj opened up about his conversation with Gill. The 41-year-old said that he asked the young batter to get up and play against Pakistan as it is very important. He also said that Gill will play if his health becomes better, adding it will be difficult to bounce back from dengue. 

“I did call him and told him, ‘Main do baar dengue mein khela hun, World Cup mein bhi meri tabiyat theek nahi thi. To khadaa ho jaa aur khel because it’s a very important game’ (I’ve played twice with dengue and wasn’t well during the World Cup 2011. So, just get up and play),” Yuvraj said.

"Anyway he’d played if he was feeling better. But to bounce back from a viral or dengue is really difficult. It sucks everything from your body. I’m he’s really looking forward to playing that game,” he added.

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Yuvraj hails India's performances in the opening two games 

Yuvraj Singh praised the team's ability to deal with pressure situations, mentioning the game against Australia in Chennai. The two-time world champion also discussed the match against Afghanistan, in which captain Rohit Sharma produced a remarkable century. 

“I felt that we handled the pressure really well in the first game after losing a few quick wickets. The bowlers did well and we utilised the condition as we know in our country.

“We played aggressively against Afghanistan, where Rohit scored a brilliant hundred and took the game away. So, we are getting used to pressure situations because when the semi-final game comes, pressure will be there and getting used to it is very important,” the former cricketer added.