A little while after India's eight-wicket loss to New Zealand at the Chinnaswamy on Sunday, Shubman Gill was seen batting at nets on the main pitch and facing the likes of quicks Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna alongside taking throwdowns.
Neck stiffness had ruled Gill out of the opening Test, with Sarfaraz Khan coming in his place. However, the way Gill batted at nets on Sunday, it appears he won't be having any problem as such in returning to the XI for the second Test in Pune beginning on Thursday.
"Shubman is feeling okay at present," captain Rohit Sharma said. It will be interesting to see whether both Gill and centurion Sarfaraz both feature in the XI in Pune or if the latter has to make way for the No.3 batsman.
A little bit of concern about Rishabh Pant was also there since he had copped a blow on his operated right knee on Day II of the Test during the 37th over of New Zealand's first innings. Leaving the field then, Pant did come out to bat on Saturday and produced a 105-ball 99 blitz alongside stitching a sensational 177-run partnership with Sarfaraz to give India's bowlers a slight chance.
Rohit said Pant will have to be treated carefully as he hadn't fully recovered from the blow. Pant didn't take the field on Sunday as well with substitute Dhruv Jurel continuing to don the keeper's gloves. He had also batted with his right knee strapped on Saturday and seemed to be wobbling a little while running between the wickets later in his innings.
"Rishabh had a massive operation on his leg. It's just to be a little careful about where he is at and what he is to us. Even when he was batting, he was not comfortably running," Rohit stated.
"So, we just need to be extra careful because he has had a lot of minor surgeries and one big surgery on his knee. Also, when you are keeping, you have to bend your knee. The wicket being what it was, we thought it was the right thing to do for him to stay inside and then get 100 per cent ready for the next Test," the skipper explained.
Shami bowls
Amid the Bengaluru gloom, there appeared to be a hint of good news for Team India as Mohammed Shami bowled for a while at nets at the Chinnaswamy on Sunday. A fresh bout of injury on his leg had made the senior pacer doubtful for the much-awaited Test tour of Australia, something even Rohit has admitted lately.
However, on Sunday, Shami, with a good part of his left leg strapped, was seen bowling with a five to six-step run-up to Gill before he upped the intensity a little bit and bowled to India assistant coach Abhishek Sharma in the presence of bowling coach Morne Morkel. Shami also had a lengthy chat with Morkel and underwent light fielding drills.