Gill was ruled out of the series opener in Perth after sustaining a thumb injury during the three-day match simulation that India had before the Test. The tourists were forced to name a replacement at No.3 in Devdutt Padikkal.

Gill returns to nets

Upon returning to the nets on Friday (November 29) for the first time since the injury, Gill provided an update on his fitness.

"I was just trying to get a feel to be honest, see how the injury is reacting, if any kind of soreness is there but it went much better than what I and Kamlesh bhai (Kamlesh Jain, physio) expected. Very happy with that," Gill said in a video released by the BCCI on X.

He added: "Any ball when it hits the middle of the bat, the feeling that you get, that is the feeling I play for. When I got to know about my injury, first couple of days I was quite low and disappointed.

"Perth is the only venue we did not play last time around (2020-21). It is such an iconic venue. But the way we played at the end of it, I was very happy," the batter added.

"But it was my first day. I was just trying to get a feel, to be honest, see how the injury is reacting. If there is any kind of jarness or any kind of soreness with me playing. But it actually went much better than I expected and Kamlesh bhai expected and I'm very happy with that."

Shubman Gill hits the nets for the first time since his thumb injury that forced him to miss the Perth Test.

Here’s how the star batter is shaping up! #TeamIndia | #AUSvIND | @ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/sZtbvQhgLn

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 29, 2024

Gill bats at No.3 in tour game, hits fifty

Before the day-night Test in Adelaide starting December 6, India played a tour game against Australia Prime Minister’s XI. Despite returning to the nets, India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar was apprehensive of Gill's participation in the pink-ball practice match: "Gill is batting, and the evaluation will be done by physios. He looked comfortable while batting. I do not know if he will feature in the warm-up match."

However, Gill came in to bat at No.3 during India's chase after the fall of Yashasvi Jaiswal (45), who along with KL Rahul put together a 75-run stand for the first wicket. He was at his fluent best, smashing seven boundaries. The batter brought up his fifty off 62 balls after which he retired out with India at 182-2 in 33 overs.

The rain-hit fixture which was earlier reduced to a 50-over-a-side contest was further curtailed to 46 overs due to drizzles during the first innings. India were set a target of 241 after Harshit Rana’s four-wicket in six balls helped the visitors to turn things around.

Gill, primed to be India’s all-format superstar, struggled to crack the consistency code in Tests for long, something which he admitted. However, he turned things around this year, scoring 806 runs at an average of 47.41, the second-most by an India batter. He has also scored three centuries and as many fifties during this period.

Gill’s impressive knock in the tour game in Canberra might be all the assurance the management needs to get him in the playing XI for the second Test.

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