Shubman Gill dispelled all doubts about his thumb injury with a stylish fifty even as skipper Rohit Sharma kept cards close to his chest by coming in at No. 4 in India’s curtailed pink-ball warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Sunday. The visitors won the match by six wickets. It, however, remains to be seen if the Indian captain would come out to open in the second Test against Australia, starting Friday in Adelaide. It was a 46-overs-a-side affair, which India won by chasing down an easy target of 241 in 42.5 overs, but they carried on batting till the end of the final over.

For Australia, Test hopeful Sam Konstas‘ 107 off 97 balls went in vain.

The Indian team management was tactical in its choices as Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah decided on facing each other at the nets rather than providing data to the Aussie think-tank.

Interestingly, Ravichandran Ashwin, who didn’t play the Perth Test, was seen at the nets, mostly bowling to Kohli. Ashwin had a four-wicket haul in the last Pink-ball Test in Adelaide in 2020-21.

Ravindra Jadeja, however, got a few overs and also batted for some time.

Rohit persisted with the opening combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, dropping himself down to number four. However, his own game time was limited to 11 deliveries as he edged one to the slips under the night lights.

The biggest piece of news for India was Gill’s batting. A cracking square cut first up off seamer Mahli Beardman indicated that his fractured left thumb has completely healed and he is ready to play the Adelaide game.

He looked pretty comfortable against Scott Boland, whom he faced during his second spell.

Gill punished the pacers and spinners alike with seven boundaries before he retired after facing 62 balls.

Jaiswal (45 off 59 balls) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (42 off 32 balls), both players with virtually no experience of facing the pink ball at domestic level, threw their bats around and got some runs.

Rishabh Pant also didn’t come out to bat, much to the disappointment of the 1000-odd Indian fans present at the Manuka Oval.

Harshit shows big heart

Harshit Rana has already earned the vote of confidence from the team management with an impressive Test debut at Perth and picked four wickets here to strengthen his credentials as a wicket-taking bowler.

Still very raw at the international level, Harshit’s inexperience became his undoing during the first three overs as he wasn’t able to hit the right length with the pink ball.

But then he went round the wicket against a set southpaw Jack Clayton (40) and bowled a quick delivery that came in with the angle as the batter played inside the line.

Within a space of a delivery, he came over the wicket to right-hander Ollie Davis (0) and a fullish ball had him playing all over.

In his next over, he bowled two different types of bouncers — the one to skipper Jack Edwards climbed steeply as he went for a pull while the next one to Sam Harper was aimed at rib cage and forced the batter to go for a swivel pull. Both catches landed safely inside Prasidh Krishna‘s palms.

Akash Deep (2/58) bowled a few wicket-taking deliveries but didn’t look as menacing as Harshit when the latter bowled the ‘heavy ball’. In all, India made the best use of the limited practice opportunity.

The teams have agreed to play a 50-over-a-side match on Sunday at the Manuka Oval.© AFP

India would aim to figure out their batting combination for next week’s day-night Test in Adelaide when they face Australia Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day tour game at the Manuka Oval here from Saturday. India have played four day-night Tests thus far with their only loss coming at Adelaide four years ago when they were bowled out for 36 before making a winning comeback in the four-match Test series. The pink ball does a lot more compare to the red cherry, especially in the twilight period. Considering it is not a first-class game, majority of the Indian batters would like to get a feel of the ball in the middle.

Coming from their most dominant win in Australia in the opening Test in Perth, the Indian dressing room is in high spirits.

However, the arrival of Rohit Sharma, who missed the first Test due to the birth of his second child and expected return of a fit again Shubman Gill will force the think tank to rejig the batting order for the match beginning December 6.

Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the designated openers but with the latter and K L Rahul excelling at the top in Perth, there is a case for the Indian skipper to drop himself down the order.

If that does happen, Gill’s position will also need to be adjusted. India will have to make those calls in the practice game before reaching Adelaide with full clarity.

As it is only a two-day game, India would be hoping to get a lot more time with the bat than the ball. The likes of Sarfaraz Khan, who are unlikely to be considered unless there is an injury, would also be hoping for some game time.

The team is in a relaxed mood and had its first net session on Friday where Gill took guard, indicating that his recovery is well on course.

India have been reluctant to play tour games as they are often not competitive enough.

With Test players like Matt Renshaw and Scott Boland in the line-up, the visitors can hope for some decent match practice.

The PM’s XI will be led by all-rounder Jack Edwards and will also have Australia U-19 stars including Charlie Anderson, Mahli Beardman, Aidan O’Connor and Sam Konstas.

Fast bowling all-rounder Hanno Jacobs will be another player to watch out for.

The Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

PM’s XI: Jack Edwards (C), Charlie Anderson, Mahli Beardman, Scott Boland, Jack Clayton, Aidan O’Connor, Ollie Davies, Jayden Goodwin, Sam Harper, Hanno Jacobs, Sam Konstas, Lloyd Pope, Matthew Renshaw, Jem Ryan.

Match starts: 9.10 am IST.