Shubman Gill, who missed the opening match of IND vs AUS Border-Gavaskar series in Perth due to a right thumb injury, is showing strong signs of recovery and seems ready to return to action. India, leading 1-0 in the five-match series, will face Australia in the second Test in Adelaide, a day-night pink-ball encounter.
India's batting coach Abhishek Nayar shares positive update on Shubman Gill's recovery
"He is batting right now and our physio will evaluate him and I will know his status after that," Nayar told reporters on Friday, 29 November, ICC reported.
"But from what I have seen, he is looking comfortable batting and he looks like he can bat [in a match]. He is batting in the indoor nets and we will know if he can play the practice match or not," he added.
With Shubman Gill sidelined due to injury, the Indian team management brought in Devdutt Padikkal to bat at number three, but he failed to make an impact.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul's century in Perth while filling in as an opener for Rohit Sharma has raised questions about Gill's return to his usual position (number three batting position).
While Rohit is expected to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul could be slotted at number three, potentially pushing Gill down to number five.
India may experiment with their batting order during the two-day practice match against Prime Minister's XI in Canberra, starting Saturday, 30 November, as all the batters will be given a chance to bat, given the match is not a first-class fixture.
Ahead of the warm-up game, Gill was seen facing Yash Dayal and Akash Deep in the nets.
"I was just trying to get a feel to be honest, see how the injury is reacting, if any kind of soreness is there but it went much better than what I and Kamlesh bhai (Kamlesh Jain, physio) expected. Very happy with that," Gill said in a video posted by BCCI on X after the training session.
Gill was naturally disappointed about getting injured ahead of Perth Test.
"Any ball when it hits the middle of the bat, the feeling that you get, that is the feeling I play for. When I got to know about my injury, first couple of days I was quite low and disappointed.
"Perth is the only venue we did not play last time around (2020-21). It is such an iconic venue. But the way we played at the end of it, I was very happy," the batter added.