Ahead of his team’s first Test against Australia in Perth, Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel provided an update on young batter Shubman Gill’s fitness, saying he is improving “daily” and that his selection will be reviewed. on the morning of the match. The first Test between India and Australia begins on Friday at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Both teams, finishing in the top two spots in the ICC World Test Championship scoring, will be looking to improve their chances of reaching the final. As India try to bounce back from a rare but humiliating home defeat to New Zealand, Australia will be looking to avoid a hat-trick of series defeat to India at home.
Gill’s injury is one of the most talked about topics ahead of the match. Earlier on Saturday, Gill suffered an injury to his left hand while playing in the slips and did not return for the second day of the intra-squad match.
Speaking about Gill in the pre-match presser, Morkel said: “Shubman is improving every day. We will take a call the morning before the test. He played well in the match simulation during preparation.” , so fingers crossed.”
Gill has been in fine form this season, scoring 806 runs in 10 matches, 19 innings, with an average of over 47. He scored three centuries and a fifty and his best score was 119*.
Ranked third, Gill scored 926 runs in 14 matches at an average of 42.09, with three centuries and a fifty in 25 innings.
Morkel also said they were keeping a close eye on the pace of veteran Mohammed Shami, who recently recovered from an ankle injury and made a triumphant return to the sport after a year, taking seven wickets in his team’s Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh.
“We are keeping a close eye on Shami. He’s been gone for a year. It’s a huge victory for us that he’s playing again. How can we give him as much support as possible to get him back on his feet? Working closely with a team of people back home. He is a world class bowler,” he added.
On Monday, Shami was included in the Bengal squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the premier domestic T20 competition.
If Shami is included in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad, his experience will be invaluable, especially given India’s inexperienced pace attack. The bowling line-up includes Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and promising talents like Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep.
Following the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second day-night Test will be played under lights at the Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10.
Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test, which runs from December 14 to 18. The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, will be the penultimate edition of the series.
The fifth and final Test will take place at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to the highly anticipated series.
India squad for Border-Gavaskar series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk). ), K.L. Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia’s squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.
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