India Test captain Shubman Gill was rested on the opening day of India’s warm-up match against Sri Lanka XI in Colombo after sustaining an impact injury to his right ring finger during training on Thursday.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that the decision was purely precautionary, with the medical team closely monitoring Gill’s recovery ahead of the two-Test series.“Captain Shubman Gill sustained an impact injury to his right ring finger during India’s practice on Thursday. 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. KL Rahul will lead the team in Gill’s absence ,” the board wrote on X.

Sri Lanka XI elect to bat

Sri Lanka XI won the toss and opted to bat first in Colombo, giving India’s bowlers an opportunity to acclimatise to local conditions before the Test series.Sri Lanka : Nishan Madushka, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Pavan Rathnayake, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Sonal Dinusha (c), Anjala Bandara (wk), Nipun Dhananjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Asanka Manoj, Isitha Wijesundera, Ramesh Mendis, Dilum Sudeera, Keshara Nuwantha, Ravindu Rasantha.India: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar.

Crucial preparation ahead of Test series

The warm-up fixture is India’s only red-ball outing before the opening Test, making every session valuable. Head coach Gautam Gambhir urged the squad to maximise the preparation despite the uncertainty surrounding the weather.“We know what is in front of us. We can do volume, we can push our limits, we can tick all the boxes and come the 15th morning, whether we are batting first or bowling first, we will be absolutely ready with every answer to every question thrown at us,” Gambhir told the players.“So make sure to tick all the boxes from now on.”