A week before the opening Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth, India suffered a setback after Shubman Gill suffered a left thumb injury while taking a catch on the second day of India’s intra-squad training match at the WACA.

Gill was struck on his left thumb while fielding in the slips and left the field, not to return. While the extent of his injury and his prospects of taking the field for the first Test was not yet known, it could put him in a race against time to attain full fitness ahead of the five-Test series opener.

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Some reports suggested that India’s No 3 might have fractured his digit, which could further jeopardise India’s prospects in their pursuit of retaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy, and keep them in the hunt for the World Test Championship final at the Lord’s next June.

Gill had recently missed India’s opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru last month due to neck stiffness. Returning to the XI for the next two games during which India suffered a historic 0-3 series whitewash at home, Gill scored 144 runs, including a 90 in Mumbai.

In Perth, Gill batted twice on Friday and looked to be getting into his own in terms of fluency and rhythm. Having made a very impressive start to his Test career in these conditions as an opener four years ago, it is yet to be ascertained how long the injury would keep him out of action.

The 25-year-old Gill, who has been batting at the No.3 spot has also been projected as the makeshift opener alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in case regular skipper Rohit Sharma is not available for the first Test because of the birth of his second child.

The stylish right-hander is expected to be assessed over the next few days before a call is taken on his availability. While the Indian side awaits an update from the medical team about the status of Gill’s injury, they received a good news of Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh giving birth to their second child on Friday.

With the due date for delivery close to the Perth Test, Rohit had communicated to the BCCI and the selectors that he might not be available for the series opener. However, despite the delivery of the baby boy, it’s still not clear if Rohit will travel to Perth in time to be available for the first Test.

In the scenario of both Rohit and Shubman missing the Test, Abhimanyu Easwaran, the third reserve opener in the squad could be handed a Test debut, despite failing to come up with an impressive show even in the intra-squad simulation game.

According to sources, one of Devdutt Padikkal or Ruturaj Gaikwad, who were part of the India A touring party for last month’s two fixtures against Australia A, could be asked to stay back with the senior team. Both Padikkal and Gaikwad had a decent outing with the bat during the ongoing simulation match, and could fit in as a replacement for Gill if the elegant Punjab right-hander is ruled out.

Meanwhile, KL Rahul, who was struck on the elbow by a rising delivery from Prasidh Krishna, returned to the WACA on Saturday but didn’t take the field. According to sources in the team management, the Karnataka right-hander isn’t under the injured list, and could be in line to open the batting alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal next week.