India’s Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill will turn out for Punjab in their Ranji Trophy second round match against Chhattisgarh in New Chandigarh, starting on Sunday. The development comes at a time when Gill is eyeing to get some red-ball game time under his belt before departing for the New Zealand tour.
An India A side will be touring New Zealand at the same time for three unofficial Tests against New Zealand A. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul have been named for all three games. Gill, however, will not be a part of it, as he was originally expected to turn out in one of those India A. Gill is likely to bat at number four for Punjab, which could see Jashanpreet Sidhu left out of the playing eleven.
The Ranji Trophy outing, therefore, offers Gill a timely chance at long-format practice before the Tests. Gill, 27, has been drafted into the squad at the eleventh hour, with Uday Saharan to continue to lead the side. India’s ODI series in New Zealand runs from November 4 to 15, but Gill will play only the first three matches. He will then hand the 50-over captaincy to Shreyas Iyer and shift his focus to the two-game Test series that follows. But that plan has fallen through as the third four-day game, scheduled from November 7 to 10 in Lincoln, clashes with the second and third ODIs.
Punjab began their campaign on a positive note by collecting three points from that game against Assam courtesy of a first-innings lead. Vihaan Malhotra, Emanjot Chahal and Salil Arora all struck hundreds in the contest. The match was also significant for veteran India pacer Umesh Yadav, who made his first-class comeback after a gap of more than two years. With Gill, Prabhsimran and the three centurions from the opening game, Punjab will field a formidable batting line-up as they look to build on their early points against Chhattisgarh in front of their home crowd at the New PCA Stadium. Punjab squad: Harnoor Pannu, Vihaan Malhotra, Shubman Gill, Uday Saharan (captain), Jashanpreet Sidhu, Salil Arora (vice-captain), Ramandeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Harpreet Brar, Emanjot Singh Chahal, Harjas Tandon, Gurnoor Brar, Umesh Yadav, Gursimran Singh, Sanvir Singh and Sehaj Dhawan.
Umesh, who switched from Vidarbha to Punjab ahead of the domestic season, marked his return with figures of 5-70, his 16th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
