Forced to sit out of the Border-Gavaskar series opener against Australia in Perth after copping a blow on his right thumb, Shubman Gill has exhibited promising signs of recovery ahead of the second Test in Adelaide, starting December 6.
India’s batting coach Abhishek Nayar, who kept a close eye on Gill’s return to the nets with the Indian team in Canberra, believes the batter looks ‘comfortable’ to return back in action.
“He is batting right now and our physio will evaluate him and I will know his status after that,” Nayar told reporters on Friday.
“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.
Gill, who had played an integral role with the bat in India’s monumental series triumph when they last toured Australia, also elaborated on his return to training in a recent BCCI video, which he concedes went better than he had expected.
“It was my first day, I was only trying to get a feel, to be honest, to see how the injury is reacting, if there is any soreness while playing. But it went much better than I expected and Kamlesh bhai (physio) expected and I’m very happy with that,” he said.
Having registered a mammoth 295-run win in Perth, the Indian team is currently stationed in Canberra for a two-day practice match against Prime Minister’s XI starting Saturday. The tour game will be played at the Manuka Oval in the Australian capital before the day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval.
However, with cloudy skies welcoming the Indian team in Canberra, there are high chances of the first day of the practice game being washed out. In anticipation of the same, the Indian team made full use of the time available before showers, with long sessions to get used to the Pink ball. With day-night Test matches in Australia having a history of being bowler-dominated affairs, the Indian batters focussed on getting used to the bounce and all the mischief that the ball could play under the night sky.
Nayar, however, felt that it was more of a mental game, and stressed that the team has already started preparing for the challenge.
“Whether it’s a pink ball or a red ball, the difference is really in the mind. Of course, there is a bit of difference between the two – the colour is different, there is more lacquer – and we are lucky that we have got six-eight days to get ready,” Nayar said.
“When we were in Perth, too, we were training with the pink ball. Rohit (Sharma) was training (with the pink ball) too. So we have started our preparations. We will continue to focus on our game, and do what we need to do,” he added.
India have only played four pink-ball Test matches so far, the last of which took place in March 2022. At Adelaide, the memories of “36 all out” during the 2020-21 tour are hard to forget but the vibe in the Indian dressing room has changed following the convincing 295-run win in Perth, and Nayar feels the return of Rohit Sharma after becoming a father to a second child, has only boosted the environment.
“When Rohit Sharma is around, there’s a lot of laughing and joking around. So the morale and the environment is good. The morale is excellent anyway. Rohit wasn’t around initially, but he was very much with us (in spirit) all through. So there wasn’t much of a difference,” he said.