Siraj hit Shubman Gill on the right elbow in the nets, and India’s captain has a day to be ready for West Indies

Shubman Gill was batting against Mohammed Siraj in the nets at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday when a length ball reared up and hit him on the right elbow. He dropped the bat and walked straight out of the net. India play West Indies in the first ODI at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday, 27 September, starting at 2pm IST, and their captain spent the next part of Friday’s session sitting on a cooler box with an ice pack on his arm.

By Friday night there had been no statement from the BCCI on the injury, and nothing to say Gill would miss the game. The signs by the end of the evening were better than the signs at the start.

What happened in the nets

Siraj went over to check on him first, and Virat Kohli came across from the next net. The physio, Kamlesh Jain, looked at the arm, iced it and strapped it, and Gill stayed off his feet for a long time afterwards, with Kohli and Gurnoor Brar keeping him company for part of it. Rohit Sharma came over too.

He did not bat against Siraj or any of the other bowlers again. But before India wrapped up the session he went back into the nets to face throwdowns, and he walked off at the end carrying his own kit, joking with Brar on the way. Somebody with a badly damaged elbow does not usually do that.

Gill has been here before, and recently. Before the Test series in Sri Lanka in August he took a blow on the right ring finger in the nets, sat out the warm-up game and was fit for the first Test in Galle. An elbow is not a finger, but it is a reasonable guide.

Morkel wants the injuries done with

India’s bowling coach, Morne Morkel, spoke after the session and did not pretend the year had been kind to them physically. “Obviously, you want to have your strongest and, condition-wise, the best XI on the field,” he said. His hope was to “get all the injuries out of the way” for the rest of the year.

He also had something to say about the two most famous men in the squad. Kohli and Rohit batted in neighbouring nets for about 20 minutes on Friday, against a mix of India’s bowlers and local net bowlers. “I’m always a big believer in your senior players and how they shape the team,” Morkel said.

If Gill does not make it

I think he plays. Going back for throwdowns late in the session is what gives it away, and a captain who can pack his own bag an hour and a half after the blow does not look like a captain with a broken elbow. But India have cover if he does not. KL Rahul is the vice-captain, and the squad has Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad as options at the top of the order.

It would still be a poor start to a series that matters more to India’s planning than to the table. The ODI World Cup is next year in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and every one of these games is a chance to look at the combination. After Thiruvananthapuram, the series goes to Guwahati on 30 September and New Chandigarh on 3 October.

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