AUS vs IND: Team India registered a historic victory by 295 runs in the first of the five-match Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Captain Rohit Sharma missed the Test match due to the birth of his baby boy, and Shubman Gill also missed the Test match due to the thumb fracture that he suffered in practice ahead of the start of the first Test.
Gill injured and subsequently fractured his thumb while trying to take a catch during the practice match simulation against India A in Perth. He has to take a rest of 10–14 days to recover from the injury. Devdutt Padikkal played in Gill’s absence and batted at number three in the Perth Test. However, he failed to get going and scored 0, 25 in both innings of the Test match.
Sources close to the team have said that Gill will need more match practice before being available to be included in the playing XI. So, he is set to miss the second Test match, which is a day/night test match with the pink ball at the Adelaide Oval starting from December 6.
KL Rahul might bat at number three in Adelaide
Sharma will be back in the team, so Padikkal might be the one who will be dropped in the Pink Ball Test given that KL Rahul scored runs and looked in great touch in the Perth Test. So, Sharma might open with Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Rahul might bat at number three in the second Test.
Mohammed Shami, the great fast bowler who last played for India in the ODI World Cup final back in 2023, was ruled out of the game owing to his injury, which he recovered during the phase and made a domestic cricket comeback. Some reports claimed that he might be added to India’s team for the BGT; however, some recent reports from TOI suggested that no such plans have been made to fly the ace pacer to Australia.
