PERTH: India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel on Wednesday, revealed that the final call on Shubman Gill’s participation in the opening match of the five-match Test series against Australia was yet to be taken.
Gill sustained a hair-line fracture on his left thumb while fielding in the slips during the team’s practice match on Saturday, which casted doubts on his availability for the series opener, scheduled to commence from November 22.
“He hurt his thumb while fielding in the slips. He was sent for scans, and it seems he’s suffering from a hairline fracture. He will miss the first Test due to the injury but should return for the second,” the Indian news outlet had quoted a Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) source as saying.
Meanwhile, Morkel, while addressing the media here, shared that the right-handed batter has been recovering on day-to-day basis and also that a final call is yet to be taken regarding his participation in the fixture.
"Shubman is improving every day. Obviously, he picked up a nasty blow in that intra-squad warm-up game. I think with him it's going to be a day-to-day process," Morkel told reporters.
"Fingers crossed for that improvement. We'll wait to take a call on him up until the morning of the test match."
With captain Rohit Sharma already set to miss the series opener due to the birth of his second child, Shubman Gill’s absence would pile more pressure on touring side’s inexperienced batters on challenging Australian pitches but Morkel termed it as a ‘great learning’.
"It's going to be great learning for these young guys, who can front up against a quality test bowling attack. Australia aren't going to bowl you many bad balls," Morkel said.
"But in saying that there's good leadership within the group that can help and settle the nerves with that. As a group, we're all excited for the challenge."
- Shubman Gill
