India Test captain Shubman Gill experienced an injury scare during a training session in Colombo, raising concerns about his fitness ahead of the team’s World Test Championship campaign in Sri Lanka. Gill sustained two blows to his right hand during the session.
The incidents occurred during net practice and a subsequent slip-catching drill. Initial medical assessments, however, indicated no fracture or serious damage, allowing Gill to complete the remainder of the session without significant discomfort.
Training Session Incidents
The first incident took place in the nets when Gurnoor Brar, a pacer, delivered a ball that struck Gill on his right thumb. Following this, the 26-year-old immediately sought attention from the team physio, Kamlesh Jain, who then strapped his thumb. Despite the setback, Gill resumed batting and continued to face spinners as part of his preparations.
Later in the session, during a slip-catching drill, Gill was hit again on the same hand after failing to cleanly gather a sharp chance. He briefly stepped away from the drill to apply an ice pack. Despite these events, Gill completed the session, and initial assessments confirmed the absence of any fracture or serious injury.
The training session was held at the Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) and lasted for three hours in the afternoon. It was the second consecutive day of practice for the Indian team, with a primary focus on countering spin bowling.
The practice sequence saw a change from the previous day. On the second day, players like KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal began their net sessions against spin bowlers, rather than pace. Kuldeep Yadav bowled to both players in the same net, alongside Ravindra Jadeja, Saransh Jain, and Manav Suthar.
Kuldeep managed to beat Jaiswal on a couple of occasions, and Saransh also appeared threatening against the left-handed batter. Rahul, however, batted fluently against the spinners, utilizing the depth of the crease for back-foot play. He frequently used the square cut and back-foot punch. Suthar deceived Rahul in the air once, and Saransh beat him shortly after. Both Indian openers batted for approximately 40 minutes against spin before moving on to throwdowns.
Jaiswal then had a separate session with the team’s throwdown specialists, who were instructed to bowl short deliveries. Gill initially batted against fast bowlers for about 30-40 minutes before switching to face spinners alongside Devdutt Padikkal. Compared to the previous day, Gill focused more on his defence rather than attempting aerial shots. Padikkal’s footwork also showed improvement from the first day’s session.
Mohammed Siraj and Auqib Nabi bowled alongside Gurnoor Brar for approximately 45 minutes before taking their turn with the bat in the nets. Prasidh Krishna, unlike Kuldeep Yadav on the first day, did not bowl during the second practice session. Prasidh participated in warm-ups, fielding drills, and even had a batting stint but did not bowl.
Wicketkeeper-batters Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant started with throwdowns before facing the spinners. Both were aggressive against the net bowlers, particularly Pant, who hit several powerful shots straight down the ground. Pant also appeared to be in good spirits, sharing laughs with bowling coach Morne Morkel.
Jurel had the longest batting session among all the batters, continuing to bat against local net bowlers after finishing with the main bowlers. Head coach Gautam Gambhir was actively involved, chatting with players between sessions and sharing smiles with Jadeja. At the end of the practice, Rahul was seen working on his sweep shots in the rough, with Gambhir and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak assisting him with throwdowns.
Fielding coach Shubhadeep Ghosh led close-in fielding drills, which included Gill, Rahul, Padikkal, and Jaiswal. This session marked India’s final practice before their three-day warm-up match against SLC XI. The intensity of the session remained high, but the team atmosphere appeared relaxed and upbeat.
Importance for World Test Championship
Gill’s fitness is considered crucial as India prepares for their 2025-27 World Test Championship campaign in Sri Lanka. The team aims to start the new cycle with a strong performance.
Gill arrives in Sri Lanka in strong form, having accumulated 1,109 runs, including six centuries, in his last 10 Tests. This upcoming warm-up fixture is expected to be vital for him to adapt to the local conditions, as it will be his first red-ball outing in Sri Lanka before the opening Test on August 15.
The squad for the warm-up match against SLC XI was announced earlier on the day of the final practice session.
Source: m.rediff.com
