Gill’s inclusion to be decided on match day, says Indian bowling coach Morkel

India bowling coach Morne Morkel said the call on injured Shubman Gill’s participation in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test will be taken on morning of the match starting on Nov.22 at the Perth Stadium.

Gill suffered a fracture to his left thumb while taking a catch in the slip cordon during India’s match simulation practice at the WACA in Perth on November 16. India have also got in left-handed top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal as a back-up option.

“Shubman is improving on a day-by-day basis. We will take a call with him right up until the morning of the Test match. He played well in the match simulation during the build-up (before the injury), so fingers crossed,” said Morkel in the pre-series press conference.

With Rohit Sharma unavailable for the first Test following the birth of his second child in Mumbai, fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will captain India in his absence, setting up a very rare clash of fast bowling skippers in Tests, with Pat Cummins leading Australia.

“(Bumrah) put his hand up and wanted that leadership role. He’s been very successful here (in Australia) in the past, so he knows what to expect. In the dressing room he speaks well, and he’s a guy that I know that with ball in hand will lead from the front, and then the rest of the younger guys will follow,” added Morkel.

He also heaped rich praise on seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who played two India A games in Australia and has made rapid strides in career after bagging Emerging Player of the Season award in IPL 2024 and shining in his three T20I appearances against Bangladesh in October.

“He is one of the young guys. (There’s) all-round ability. He’ll be one guy who can hold one end up for us, especially for the first couple of days. (He’s a) wicket-to-wicket bowler. Any team in the world would want an all-rounder who can help pacers. It’ll be on Jasprit over how he uses them. Definitely a guy to keep an eye on in the series.”

Morkel signed off by saying Indian team is keeping tabs on Mohammed Shami’s progress after he took seven wickets on return to competitive cricket in the last round of Ranji Trophy. Shami has now been included in Bengal squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy matches in Rajkot.

“We are keeping a close eye on Shami. He has been out for a year. For us, it is a massive win that he is back playing. How can we give him the best support to find his feet again? (We’re) Working closely with the people back home. He is a world-class bowler.”

Meanwhile, Perth’s unusual weather has thrown a curveball at WACA head curator Isaac McDonald, who is working against time to prepare the pitch for the highly anticipated first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Despite the disruptions, McDonald remains optimistic that the Optus Stadium surface will deliver its trademark bounce and pace when play begins on Friday.

Rain in the lead-up to the Test has disrupted traditional preparations, with Tuesday’s downpour forcing the pitch to remain under covers all day. This has left the curating team with less time to achieve the iconic “baking” effect associated with Perth’s pitches.

“Yeah, it’s definitely not traditional Perth Test prep. Yesterday we pretty much lost the whole day of prep with it being under cover.

“So we kind of saw the forecast early on and we started preparing a little bit earlier than we normally would. So we’re sitting quite comfortable still. It’d be nice if the sun would pop out and do its job but as of this morning we’re in a good spot,” McDonald told media ahead of the series opener beginning on Friday.

Agencies