Gill returns to nets from thumb injury

Canberra: Shubman Gill returned to the India nets on Friday, showing enough signs of a full recovery from a thumb injury that ruled him out of the series opener against Australia in Perth.

Gill’s absence was not felt in Perth as India won the game by 295 runs but considering his impressive run on the previous tour, the visitors need him at his best over the course of the five-match series. The top-order 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 Saturday.

“I was just trying to get a feel to be honest, see how the injury is reacting, if any kind of soreness is there but it went much better than what I and Kamlesh bhai (Kamlesh Jain, physio) expected. Very happy with that,” Gill said in a video posted by BCCI on X after the training session here.

Gill was naturally disappointed about getting injured ahead of the first Test but India’s special performance put him back in a positive frame of mind.