Gill was hit twice in Thursday’s session, and KL Rahul led India’s warm-up instead
Shubman Gill took two blows to his right hand at practice in Colombo on Thursday and was held out of day one of India’s only warm-up before the Sri Lanka Tests.
Aug 7, 2026
The first blow landed in the nets on Thursday, off Gurnoor Brar. Shubman Gill called for the physio, had the hand strapped and went back in to finish his work against the spinners. The second came later the same afternoon in slip-catching practice, when he misjudged a sharp chance. That one ended his fielding for the day, and the ice pack came out.
By Friday morning India’s captain had been withdrawn from day one of their only red-ball rehearsal before the Sri Lanka Tests, at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo. KL Rahul led the side instead.
What the board actually said
The BCCI’s update was short and gave nothing away. “Captain Shubman Gill sustained an impact injury to his right ring finger during India’s practice on Thursday,” it read. “As a precautionary measure, he will not take the field on Day 1 of the warm-up game against SLC XI. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress.”
No scan was mentioned. Nothing has been ruled out beyond a single day of a three-day match that carries no points and no consequence outside the India dressing room. On the evidence so far this is a bruise being managed rather than an injury being diagnosed, and the fact that Gill finished the session on Thursday says as much.
Rahul takes the warm-up
Rahul, vice-captain on this tour, took charge after Sri Lanka Cricket XI won the toss and batted at the NCC. The fixture runs from 7 to 9 August and is the only cricket India play between arriving in Sri Lanka and the first morning at Galle, which makes it worth more than a tour game usually is.
Galle asks a particular set of questions of visiting batters. How long they are willing to wait for runs. Whether they can read spin out of the hand rather than off a surface that stops helping them somewhere around the third afternoon. Three days against a second-string Sri Lankan attack is a thin place to go looking for answers, but it is the only place on the itinerary.
Eight days to Galle
The first Test starts on 15 August at Galle. The second follows at the SSC in Colombo from 23 to 27 August. India travel without Jasprit Bumrah, whose left knee did not come round in time, and with the uncapped Auqib Nabi called up in his place after a season in which he took 60 wickets and bowled Jammu and Kashmir to their first Ranji Trophy title. That is already one senior absence to plan around.
Gautam Gambhir spent the week telling his squad that none of it should matter by the time the series starts. “We know what is in front of us. We can do volume, we can push our limits, we can tick all the boxes,” the head coach said in Colombo, “and come 15th morning, whether we are batting first or bowling first, we will be absolutely ready with every answer to every question thrown at us.”
There is a table behind the rhetoric. India are fifth in the World Test Championship standings on 52 points from nine matches, Sri Lanka sixth on a win percentage of 41.67 from four. Neither side can afford to treat two Tests in August as preparation for something better, and India will want their captain batting in both. Which is exactly why he spent Friday watching.