Shubman Gill injured in nets ahead of West Indies ODI series opener

India ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill sustained a blow to his right elbow while batting in the nets on Friday, two days before the first One Day International against West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram.

The injury occurred during a training session when Gill was facing a delivery from Mohammed Siraj, which struck his right elbow. He immediately left the nets holding his elbow and was attended to by the team physiotherapist. Siraj and Virat Kohli, who was batting nearby, checked on Gill. India’s support staff strapped his hand before he withdrew from batting for the remainder of the session and spent the time recovering.

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Gill appeared more comfortable later, seen joking with Gurnoor Brar before leaving the field. The captain has over a day to recover ahead of the three-match ODI series commencing on Sunday.

This incident follows a previous injury Gill sustained last month when he took a blow to his ring finger during nets ahead of India’s Test series in Sri Lanka. He recovered sufficiently to play in both Tests.

Prior to the injury, Gill had been in good form, arriving early for training and batting alongside Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad. He showed confidence against various bowlers, including finding the boundary with several drives off Gurnoor Brar.

India have faced multiple injury issues this year, with players such as Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar missing games around the limited-overs tour of England. While Bumrah and Reddy have returned, Hardik Pandya and Rana remain sidelined.

Speaking on the injury situation, bowling coach Morne Morkel said, “Obviously, you want to have your strongest and, condition-wise, the best XI on the field. Sadly, it’s part of the game that the guys got injured at times where we didn’t ideally want them to fall injured. But luckily, we’ve got fantastic backup in the wings, and it’s a great opportunity for the guys to go and play a game for India, to make a name for themselves and to compete.”

He added, “But ideally, hopefully we can get all the injuries out of the way and later down the year we’ll be fine, and we can take it on from there.”

India’s squad for the ODI series against West Indies includes Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Naman Dhir.

The West Indies squad features Shai Hope (captain), Jewel Andrew, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Vitel Lawes, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, and Jayden Seales.