Gill faces left-arm spin in Colombo nets as Kuldeep and Rahul skip practice
India captain Shubman Gill spent Friday, August 21, facing left-arm spinners in the Sinhalese Sports Club nets in Colombo as he prepared for the second Test, while spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav and opener KL Rahul missed the session.
Gill's focused nets came after a difficult outing in the Galle Test, where Prabath Jayasuriya troubled him in both innings and he scored 16 and 8, although India still recorded a 165-run victory; the second Test is scheduled to begin in Colombo on August 23.
Coaches identified a recurring technical issue: Gill's tendency to leave gaps while covering the line of the delivery, a flaw that surfaced in Galle and is reflected in his record of being dismissed by left-arm orthodox spinners 11 times across 42 Test matches.
At the Sinhalese Sports Club nets Gill spent an extended period facing left-arm spin, bowling from India's Manav Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja as well as a couple of local bowlers in targeted practice.
India's spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule described the session and Gill's approach, saying: "The way he plays, there is a flow of runs always. So, he is somebody who is just assessing the pitch condition, pace of the pitch and seeing what are the type of shots he can play, what are the defences he can manoeuvre. He is just adapting to the conditions. "There is nothing too much into it in terms of planning how he is going to approach. He just follows his natural way of playing each innings," said Bahutule.
Kuldeep was present at the nets but did not take part in batting or bowling drills; off-spinner Saransh Jain bowled to Rishabh Pant and Gill and managed to trouble Pant on a couple of occasions, though the team cautioned against reading that as a selection signal. "Both KL and Kuldeep are resting. We finished five days of match, we travelled from Galle. So that's the reason," said Bahutule.
In Galle, Kuldeep finished with figures of 1 for 103 from 25 overs, his solitary wicket aided by an athletic catch-completion by Shubman Gill at cover. KL Rahul did not attend the net session; Dhruv Jurel arrived later and spent time working on his batting, and both Rahul and Jurel had recorded well-constructed half-centuries in the opening Test.
Gill's targeted work against left-arm spin was scheduled as preparation for the second Test in Colombo, which begins on August 23.