Gill returns to nets after recovering from thumb injury

Canberra, Nov 29 (PTI) 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.

In Gill’s absence, Devdutt Padikkal came at number three for India but could not deliver.

However, it is not a given that Gill will return to his usual batting position as K L 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.

It remains to be seen if India experiment in the batting order in the warm-up game as all batters would be allowed a hit in the middle considering it is not a first-class game.