Gill injured and ruled out of first Test in Perth

Shubman Gill will unfortunately be sitting out of the upcoming Perth Test due to a fractured thumb on his left hand. The fracture was confirmed on Saturday following an incident during India's simulated training game when Gill attempted a low catch in the slips on the second day.

The BCCI has not yet officially put out an update on Gill's injury, but it is understood that while the fracture is a minor one, the top-order batter might be in a race to make the second Test, which is a day-night match and starts after a long gap, from December 6 in Adelaide.

Gill's absence in Perth means India will now have to reshuffle their batting plans for the first Test starting from November 22. With no certainty yet about India captain Rohit Sharma travelling to play the first Test, India already have to figure the opening partner for Yashahvi Jaiswal, if Rohit is not available. They also now have to sort out who will bat at No. 3, a position Gill has batted at for a while.

The options for India are KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran, although Devdutt Padikkal, who was with India A on the shadow tour recently will also continue to be with the India squad.

More to follow...