High-flying Team India have received a huge injury boost ahead of the second Test against Australia. Their star batsman Shubman Gill has returned to training after recovering from injury.
The right-handed batsman missed the first Test in Perth after fracturing the thumb of his left hand. He suffered the injury while trying to take a low catch in the slips on the second day of India’s intra-squad match earlier this month.
Devdutt Padikkal took the number 3 spot in Perth
In his absence, Devdutt Padikkal batted at number three. Even though Padikkal failed to impress, Team India did not miss Shubman Gill’s services much as they went on to register a thumping win to take the lead in the five-match series.
In the absence of the young batsman as well as captain Rohit Sharma, Team India thrashed Australia by 295 runs. Batting first, India were bowled out for just 150 runs in the first innings. However, the bowlers put India right back into the contest by bowling out the hosts for just 104 runs.
Captain Jasprit Bumrah led from the very front and picked up 5 wickets while debutant Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj took 3 and 2 wickets respectively. In the second innings, India came up with a strong batting display.
Riding on centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and former captain Virat Kohli, the visitors scored 487/6 (declared). Chasing an improbable 533 runs for a victory, Australia were all out for 238 runs in their second innings. Bumrah impressed with the ball once again, taking 3 wickets while Siraj also claimed three.
Shubman Gill fit for second Test:
Ahead of the second IND vs AUS Test, Shubman Gill has recovered fully and is available for the crucial game. On Friday (November 29), the batsman was seen training and batting in the nets.
Shubman Gill hits the nets ahead of the pink-ball tour game
WATCH
📽️By Sriram Veera https://t.co/new7asiDxn pic.twitter.com/4K6NCOIeCX
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) November 29, 2024
Here is @ShubmanGill back at training in Canberra. @rohitjuglan reports. @BoriaMajumdar @CricSubhayan @debasissen @gargiraut15 pic.twitter.com/WKmvsCF153
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) November 29, 2024
While Gill is fully fit for the upcoming game, it won’t be surprising if he fails to find a place in the playing eleven for the second Test.
Where will KL Rahul go?
Team India are set to make at least one change to the winning combination due to the return of captain Rohit Sharma who missed the first Test to attend the birth of his second child.
In Rohit’s absence, KL Rahul opened the innings and performed well, scoring 26 and 77.
It would be tough for the team management to drop Rahul after such a performance. In such a case, Rahul could bat at number three in order to make room for Rohit at the top of the order.