Star Indian middle-order batter Shubman Gill, who missed the first Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and Australia in Perth due to a thumb injury, was seen batting in the nets in Canberra on Friday (November 29) ahead of Team India’s two-day pink-ball warm-up match against the Prime Minister’s XI at Manuka Oval.
In a major boost, Shubman Gill has resumed batting in the India practice on Friday, ahead of the Adelaide pink ball Test. Shubman Gill missed the first Test in Perth due to a thumb injury, during which India recorded a landslide victory to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.
Shubman Gill regains back to practice after thumb injury in the nets and looked positive
In the absence of Shubman Gill, who has scored three centuries for India in 2024, Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat at No. 3 in the first Test, but he could only manage to score 0 and 25 runs in two innings.
While Shubman Gill is expected to return to India’s playing XI for the second Test, it is not guaranteed that the 25-year-old right-handed batter will bat at his usual No. 3 position. There is a high possibility that KL Rahul, who scored 77 runs in the second innings of the Perth Test, will be asked by the team management to bat at No. 3, and Gill will then come to bat at No. 5.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who missed the first Test in Perth due to delayed arrival in Australia after birth of his second child on November 15, is all set to open the innings in Adelaide with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Jaiswal, who is playing his first Test series against Australia these days, hammered 161 runs in the second innings of the series opener played at Perth to set up India’s biggest Test win by runs in Australia.
It remains to be seen if India experiment in the batting order in the warm-up game as all batters would be allowed a hit in the middle considering it is not a first-class game.
Shubman Gill gives injury update after 1st net session before Adelaide Test in BGT 2024-25
Shubman Gill said his first net session after suffering a thumb injury on Friday (November 29) went “much better” than what he and team physio Kamlesh Jain expected. He can now be in line to play the Adelaide Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy which begins on December 6.
Shubham Gill injured his thumb while fielding at slips during India’s match-simulation before the first Test at the Perth Stadium. He was sidelined from the game, though scans showed no fracture.
“It was my first day, and I was just trying to get a feel to be honest, see how the injury is reacting if there was any kind of soreness. But it actually went much better than what I expected and Kamlesh bhai expected. I am very happy with that,” Gill said in a BCCI video.
India played Devdutt Padikkal at number three in Gill’s absence in Perth, with the left-hander scoring 0 (23) and 25 (71) in the two innings. But an excellent bowling effort secured a 295-run win for the visitors.
Shubman Gill is very happy on Perth Test win
Further in the video, Shubman Gill spoke about his feelings immediately after learning about his injury and how they changed with the result in Perth.
“When I got to know about my injury, for the first couple of days, I was quite low and disappointed. Perth was the only venue where I didn’t play when we came the last time and I was looking forward to playing there at such an iconic venue. The way we played that game, at the end of the day, I was very happy,” Gill added.
India will also play a two-day practice match starting Saturday against a Prime Minister’s 11 in Canberra. The game, which would also likely see the return of skipper Rohit Sharma, might come too early for Shubman Gill.