'From What I Have Seen...': India's Assistant Coach Gives Major Update On Shubman Gill's Injury Ahead Of Adelaide Test

After missing the first Test against Australia in Perth due to a right thumb injury, Shubman Gill returned to the India nets on Friday. The right-handed batter was seen facing Yash Dayal and Akash Deep in the nets ahead of the pink-ball warm-up game against Australian PM's XI, starting on Saturday. 

In absence of head coach Gautam Gambhir, India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar kept a close eye on Gill during the net session. According to Nayar, Gill seems on track to recover after sustaining a thumb injury in the intra-squad practice match. 

"He is batting right now and our physio will evaluate him and I will know his status after that. 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," Nayar, a former Mumbai Ranji stalwart, told reporters on the eve of India's two-day practice game against Prime Minister's XI.

Meanwhile, Gill also elaborated on his return to training in a BCCI video, which he concedes it 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," Gill said. 

"When I got to know about my injury, for the first couple of days, I was quite low and disappointed. Perth was the only venue where I didn’t play when we came the last time and I was looking forward to playing there at such an iconic venue. The way we played that game, at the end of the day, I was very happy," he added.

Notably, Gill's absence was not felt in Perth as India won the game by 295 runs but considering his impressive performance on the previous tour, the visitors need him at his best over the course of the five-match series. 
    
In Gill's absence, Devdutt Padikkal came at number three for India in Perth but could not deliver. However, it is not a given that Gill will return to his usual batting position as KL Rahul excelled as an opener in Perth in skipper Rohit Sharma's absence.

While Rohit is expected to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul could come in at three pushing Gill to number 5.
    
India, who are leading the five-Test series 1-0, are scheduled to play the second Test against Australia from 6 December in Adelaide - a Pink Ball fixture.