Shubman Gill suffers thumb injury scare ahead of India warm-up in Sri Lanka

India captain Shubman Gill suffered a thumb injury scare during a net session in Sri Lanka ahead of India's three-day warm-up match against Sri Lanka A starting on August 7. He was struck twice on the thumb, sought medical attention and then resumed his net session.

The two-match Test series between India and Sri Lanka begins on August 15, with the first Test in Galle and the second in Colombo. The three-day warm-up match precedes the Tests and starts on August 7. The series carries points for the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27; India sit fifth in the standings and will need to win most of their remaining matches to qualify for the ICC WTC Final.

The Indian team arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday and held their first training session the following day as preparations continued. On Thursday, captain Shubman Gill was forced to seek medical attention after the net incident.

Gill was struck twice on his thumb during the net session, appeared to be in considerable pain and received treatment from the medical staff before returning to practice. According to several reports, he looked in immense pain during the incident.

India's squad already contains multiple injury concerns: lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the series, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana were ruled out earlier, and fresh injuries to Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar have further complicated team selection.

Gill has suffered injuries during his career but has recovered well. Most probably, he will be fit to take the field against Sri Lanka A in the three-day warm-up match, but if the Indian team management wishes, they could ask Gill to sit out as a precautionary measure; the team need their skipper for the upcoming crucial series and Gill has been in red-hot form across all formats.

The three-day warm-up match between Sri Lanka A and India is scheduled to begin on August 7. The first Test between Sri Lanka and India is scheduled to begin on August 15 at Galle International Stadium, Galle.