IND vs SA: Shubman Gill Scores A Century In Intra Squad Practice Match, Yashasvi Jaiswal Notches Up A Fifty

Shubman Gill made complete use of the training game to get into the mood for some red-ball action as he scored a fine century, batting at no.3 during the Indian team’s intra-squad training match ahead of the series.

Shubman Gill missed out on the ongoing ODI series to keep his focus on Test matches and he used the training game to get used to the number 3 spot. The 24-year-old youngster played in the same position against the West Indies earlier this year but he failed to score big in that series.

The training game was played behind closed doors at the Tuks Oval on Thursday. Shubman Gill played all the bowlers with ease which would add a lot of confidence in him ahead of the series opener on December 26.

The Tuks Oval in Pretoria has been kept out of bounds for media even as the Indian team went ahead with their intra-squad match ahead of the First Test. The Tuks Oval is a 45-minute drive from the Supersport Park in Centurion where the Boxing Day Test will be held between India and South Africa.

It has been reported that the head coach Rahul Dravid and the team management don’t want to disclose their strategy. Closed-door training is a common practice among the world’s football teams (club and country) where media is only allowed to watch warm-ups and then asked to leave when coaches come to tactical training. However, the India national cricket team has used the ‘Closed Door’ policy to keep the media completely at bay for the entire duration.

Yashasvi Jaiswal also scored a half-century before retiring to give others a chance. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is currently nursing a finger injury, missed out on the practice game and it is also unlikely that he would be fit by the time of the First Test. However, the team won’t be bothered about that as Ruturaj was already unlikely to play the first Test given that the batting order is already full.

Shubman Gill Did Not Have A Good World Cup Campaign

Shubman Gill was not in his best form during the ICC Cricket World Cup. He failed to create an impact with the bat with only a few good innings here and there. Even after having a terrific 2023, he was not able to deliver his best during the megaevent. He would be looking to regain his best form in the upcoming Test series against South Africa.

Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are likely to open the innings for India followed by Shubman Gill at No.3 and Virat Kohli at No.4. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer could play at No.5 and No.6 followed by two spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. The three fast bowlers are Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.

Shardul Thakur got his best figures in Test cricket in South Africa in 2022. He took 7/61 in Johannesburg in 2022. Unfortunately, India lost the match but Shardul has a good record in Test cricket in South Africa and can also be handy with the bat.