IND Tour of SA: Shubman Gill Hits Century in Intra-squad Game as India Train Behind Closed Doors

Shubman Gill scored a fine century while batting at the number 3 spot during the Indian team’s intra-squad training game before the start of the Test series against South Africa. Gill, who was not picked for the ongoing ODI series to focus on Test matches, made full use of the training game to get used to the number 3 spot. The young batting sensation played in the same position against West Indies Test series earlier this year but he failed to score a big score there.

The match was played behind closed doors at Tuks Oval on Thursday as news agency PTI reported that Gill played all the bowlers with consummate ease, adding a dash of confidence in him ahead of the series opener on December 26.

The Tuks Oval in Pretoria has been kept out of bounds for media even as the Indian team went ahead with their match simulation ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

The venue is around 45-minute drive from the Supersport Park in Centurion where the first Test will be held.

It has been reported that the head coach Rahul Dravid and the team management want to keep their cards close as they don’t want to disclose their strategy.

Closed-door training is a common feature among the world’s football teams (club and country) where media is only allowed to watch warm-ups and then asked to leave when coaches come to tactical training.

But the Indian cricket team over the years, has at times, used the ‘Closed Door’ policy to keep media at bay for the entire duration.

Apart from Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal also got himself a half-century before being retired out in order to give others a chance to bat.

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s finger injury could possibly warrant a few more days of rest and the Maharashtra right-hander might not be in contention to be selected for the first Test.

Gaikwad had hurt his ring finger during the second ODI and wasn’t selected for the third match against SA on Thursday.

However, Gaikwad not being considered for selection will not be a big deal as far as Test matches are concerned since all slots in batting order are filled as of now.

(With PTI Inputs)