Elaborating on Gill’s condition, the BCCI said, “As a precautionary measure, he will not take the field on Day 1 of the warm-up game against SLC XI. The BCCI medical team is monitoring his progress.”
It remains to be seen if Gill plays any part on days two and three. The SLC XI won the toss and chose to bowl, and the Indians will likely do the bulk of their batting on day two.
India are also without allrounders Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who are out with hamstring and quadriceps injuries, respectively, and Washinton Sundar has been ruled out of at least the first Test because of a hamstring injury. Akash Deep, meanwhile, has not been on the selectors’ radar for a while as he recovers from stress reactions on his back.
“It becomes a little difficult that you come to the ground on the morning and you come to know a player has a niggle, then it’s almost like do you want to take a chance,” Gill had said. “Some player is 80% fit, you are playing with five bowlers and if this player comes out after bowling five overs, then who will bowl? This is difficult. So as a group we need improved our fitness and all those things.”
Gill’s larger fear was that if the trend continued, it would have a severe impact on India’s performance at the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be played next October-November in southern Africa.
The first Test in Sri Lanka begins on August 15 in Galle and the second on August 23 at the SSC in Colombo.
The series in Sri Lanka is India’s first in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle since the 2-0 home defeat to South Africa in November. Before that, they had drawn a five-Test series in England 2-2 and beaten West Indies 2-0 at home.
