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Major relief for the Indian cricket team as the skipper Shubman Gill walked out to bat against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI for the ongoing warm-up match in Colombo. Gill missed the first two days of the three-day warm-up match because of a fitness-related issue.
He injured his finger during a training session ahead of the practice match. In the early hours of the third and final day of the match, Shubman Gill was spotted in the nets for batting practice, when on the other ground of the facility the match was going on.
Shubman Gill experienced no pain during batting practice
For the second innings, the India captain, bringing in much-needed relief, came out to bat as an opener alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. Sahil Malhotra, a Times of India journalist, through multiple 'X' posts, informed that Shubman Gill came to bat as he experienced no pain during the net session.
In the nets, the batter faced a lot of spin and was engaged with the batting coach Sitanshu Kotak for discussions. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel also kept a close eye on the skipper's batting practice.
A pain-free net session means Shubman Gill has come out to bat in the final innings of the warm-up. https://t.co/KEiB3CIDKS
— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) August 9, 2026
From the early hours of the match today, the focus was on Shubman Gill as he is the central character of the team in this tour. Sai Sudharshan has already been ruled out of the series, which decreased the batting depth and strength of the team. Jasprit Bumrah also will not be able to face Sri Lanka in the 2-match Test series starting from August 15 in Galle.
Shubman Gill looks comfortable while batting in the match against Sri Lanka Cricket XI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to declare Sudharsan's replacement. In this scenario, when two first-eleven players are out of the team, Gill's finger injury emerged as a major concern for the cricket fans. When the Indian cricket team was bowling today against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI, Gill was in the nets with the batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.
As per the reports, the top-order batter spent more than an hour in the nets. In the meantime, he did not feel any discomfort. As he faced no issue batting, Gill came to bat in the second innings. So far, Gill faced 24 balls against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI and faced no visible trouble. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was dismissed for a duck in the previous innings, is batting well, aggressively, maintaining his natural batting style alongside the skipper on the other end of the pitch.
Auqib Nabi was unimpressive in the second innings against Sri Lanka Cricket XI
Sri Lanka Cricket XI in their second innings scored 200 for 6 wickets before declaring the innings. Pacers Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna were impressive with the ball. Ravindra Jadeja scalped twice with his experience.
But the emerging spinners like Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain remained wicket-less. Pacer Auqib Nabi also was unimpressive as well as costly.
