Indian Coach Provides Major Update on Shubman Gill's Fitness for Test Series
Sairaj Bahutule, the spin bowling coach, has talked about the fitness of Shubman Gill. The Indian skipper didn't play the first innings in the warm-up match against Sri Lanka XI. But he returned in the second innings to play a vital knock of 44 runs, which helped India to have a strong start.
Shubman Gill has been on the headlines for the Indian team over the last few days. In the warm-up match against Sri Lanka XI, he was declared as unfit for the first day. After he suffered with an injury right before the game in the catching practice, KL Rahul stepped in as a captain.
Following this, Gill didn't even step out to bat for the Indian team in the first innings. Later in the game, when India was given a target of 207 runs to chase down, fans finally saw Shubman Gill come out to bat. He went on to score 44 runs for the team, while opening with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Sairaj Bahutule, the spin bowling coach of the Indian team, also talked about his fitness. He said, “It was just a precaution more than anything else. And he (Shubman Gill) has been absolutely fine. He has been doing his training. And the management decided that we could just take that precaution of not putting him into that first day (of practice match). And I think everything, the way he batted in the second innings, was again flawless. He is very much ready for the Test match.”
Our Take
Shubman Gill being fit and available for the Indian team in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka is a major plus sign. He is currently the highest run-scorer for the Indian team in the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, and his performances have grown to a great extent. With him leading the batting line-up, it will be impressive to see how India performs in the series.