Shubman Gill has hit the nets ahead of India’s two-day pink-ball tour game against Australia’s Prime Minister XI at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
Gill, who missed the first Test was taking throw downs at the nets on Friday. After taking throwdowns for a while, Gill faced pace bowlers Yash Dayal, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna
Gill missed the first Test after fracturing his thumb while fielding during a match simulation session in Perth.
It would be interesting to see whether the 25-year-old will be available for the pink-ball tour match, followed by the day night Test against Australia at Adelaide on December 6.
India captain Rohit Sharma, Rohit, who was on a paternity break following the birth of his son, is set to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the two-day tour game.
In Rohit’s absence, his deputy Jasprit Bumrah has led the Indian team, and has guided them towards a dominant victory over Australia in the opening Test in Perth.
With Rohit back and Shubman looking to regain his fitness, KL Rahul, who scored a pivotal 77 in the second innings at Perth might have to drop down to No 6 in the Indian batting order. If Rahul would be slated to bat at 6, then Dhruv Jurel would have to make way.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting had said Rohit’s return could “disrupt” the Indian camp.
“I just think there’s potential for more disruption through their campaign with Sharma coming back and whatever else. So I’ll stick with it (3-1 verdict in favour of Australia),” Ponting said on ICC Review.
Ponting said India is prepared to take on Australia despite Rohit’s absence.
“India will be pretty certain of what team they’re going to play (in Perth). They’ve known for a while that Rohit probably wasn’t going to be here. They’ve probably known for a while that Bumrah was going to be captain. So they’ve probably known what holes they’ve needed to fill. So they’ll be reasonably settled,” he said. As per the stat book India have dominated the BGT series in recent times, emerging victorious on the last four occasions.
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