‘I’m not aware of his status’: India sweats over Shubman Gill’s participation in pink-ball practice match

India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar gave an update on right-hander Shubman Gill and said the youngster batted without pain in the nets ahead of the two-day practice match against the Prime Minister’s team at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Gill had missed the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after sustaining a fracture in his left thumb. The 25-year-old sustained the injury while slipping during the match simulation against India A in Perth.

Gill then missed the series opener against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth and Devdutt Padikkal played in his place at number 3 for the match.

Abhishek Nayar, however, refrained from addressing Gill again and said his participation in the practice match will depend on the physiotherapist.

“He’s hitting now. The assessment is carried out by our physiotherapist. I am not aware of his condition. But he seemed very comfortable while batting. He beats in the hall. We will judge whether he will play tomorrow’s game based on the assessment,” Nayar told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

On Friday, Shubman Gill had to complete some forearm throws before intensifying his training. He faced Yash Dayal and Akash Deep in the nets and now it remains to be seen if he plays the pink ball practice game.

Gill bats with Rohit Sharma in the nets

Shubman Gill was also seen batting alongside India captain Rohit Sharma in the nets. For those inexperienced, Rohit had also missed the series premiere to spend some time with his family.

“To be honest, I was just trying to get a feel for how the injury reacted, if there was any pain, but it went a lot better than me and Kamlesh Bhai (Kamlesh Jain, physiotherapist) expected. I’m very happy with it,” Gill said in a video posted by BCCI on X after the training session.

“Every ball when it hits the middle of the bat, the feeling you get, that’s the feeling I play for. When I found out about my injury, I was quite depressed and disappointed for the first few days,” he added.

Rohit Sharma and his wife Ritika Sajdeh had recently welcomed their second child, a baby boy. In Rohit’s absence, KL Rahul had played as an opener.

When asked which position Rohit will return to in the second Test in Adelaide, Abhishek Nayar replied: “It is too early to think about it. We’ll just try to take this game and see how it goes. And then maybe make plans once we get to Adelaide.”

Speaking of India, the visitors posted an impressive 295 runs in the first Test against Australia to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The visitors will now play a two-day practice match against the Prime Minister’s side at Manuka Oval from November 30. This game will serve as a perfect opportunity to hone skills ahead of the all-important pink-ball Test in Adelaide.

The second Test of the five-match series will be played at the Adelaide Oval from December 6-10.