Young Indian batter Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth, starting Friday. Former RCB batter Devdutt Padikkal will stay in Australia and won’t return with the India A squad, which is set to leave on Monday. Not only Gill, but Rohit Sharma is also unavailable for the first Test against the Aussies.
Per a Cricbuzz report, the Indian team management and selectors have decided to keep Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal as a backup for the senior team.
Padikkal recently scored 36, 88, 26, and 1 in unofficial Tests against Australia A. While these scores may not typically earn a senior team call-up, his experience in Australian conditions and adaptability make him a strong option. Padikkal debuted in Tests against England this year and has also played T20Is.
Shubman Gill is out of the Perth Test because of a broken thumb. Captain Rohit Sharma, who is in India for the birth of his second child is unlikely to arrive in time for the match. KL Rahul has an elbow injury but was able to bat during a practice match at the WACA on Sunday.
Any update regarding Rohit Sharma is still unclear as he is still in India. Shami, who is out of International Cricket for a long time is now performing well in the domestic cricket. However, BCCI does not have any plan to send Shami to Australia for the series as they want him to play more matches in domestic cricket to regain fitness and accuracy.
India squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Travelling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
