TimesofIndia.com in Colombo: Moments after Mohammed Siraj marked his run-up to commence Day 3 proceedings at the Nondescript Cricket Club, Shubman Gill put on his training gear and went to the nets. Net bowlers and coaches Gautam Gambhir, Morne Morkel, Sairaj Bahutale and Sitanshu Kotak accompanied the Indian skipper as he prepared for his first batting session since the impact injury on the eve of the multi-day warm-up fixture.There was taping around his thumb when he took guard but there was no visible discomfort as the right-hander returned to business as usual on a very pleasant morning in Colombo. Shivang Kumar, Tanush Kotian and Vipraj Nigam handled the bowling duties and Gill changed nets during the session, which lasted well over an hour. Spin was the focus, and he had long and animated chats with batting coach Kotak during breaks.Both Gambhir and Morkel kept an eye on the nets’ activity while closely monitoring the day’s proceedings as well.As he settled into his batting, Gill removed the taping around his right hand to continue. From 10:05 am to 11:25 am, all the attention was on the practice area. There would have been a collective sigh of relief when the captain walked back to the dugout without any visible discomfort.Head physio Kamlesh Jain performed a quick check before Gill took the stairs and seemed satisfied with his progress.Over to Galle now.
Shubman Gill (TOI Photo)
As TimesofIndia.com had earlier reported, Gill remains unlikely to feature in the ongoing warm-up as the thinktank doesn’t want to risk him before the crucial fixtures. India are hit by a lot of injury concerns and will soon be naming a replacement for Sai Sudharsan, who is ruled out of the series.There could be a three-way race to replace the southpaw and Shaik Rasheed, Sarfaraz Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad have emerged as the top contenders.