Shubman Gill had a hit in the nets ahead of India's second Test against Australia as the visitors landed in Melbourne aiming to level the series. "Nice and clean from @RealShubmanGill," wrote the Board of Control for Cricket in Indian (BCCI) in a tweet as they posted a video of Gill having a net three days out from the Boxing-Day Test starting December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There have been calls for Gill's inclusion in the Indian XI particularly after Prithvi Shaw's failures in the first Test, which India lost by eight wickets even as they stumbled to their lowest-ever Test score of 36 for 9.
Gill, who hit a half-century in the second warm-up match ahead of the first Test, had to wait for his Test debut as the team management preferred an out-of-form Shaw for the day-night Test in Adelaide.
However, after returns of 0 and 4 in the game and with his technical issues laid bare by Ricky Ponting on air Shaw has been put under pressure, more so from a fellow 21-year-old Gill.
Under-fire Shaw had on Monday posted a cryptic message on social media that read: "If sometimes people demotivate you for something you try to do, that means you can do that but they can't."
A PTI report on Sunday said Gill is seen as a replacement for Shaw in the second Test especially in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who is still serving his quarantine period in Sydney.
Gill averages 68.78 from 23 first-class matches. He has scored 2270 runs with seven centuries and 11 half-centuries.