A six-wicket haul from pacer Mukesh Kumar helped India A stay in the hunt during their first unofficial Test against Australia A at Mackay, Australia on Friday.
Gill has been placed as an option for the opening slot alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in case Rohit Sharma is not available for the first Test following the birth of his second child on Friday.
An injury-plagued India could be forced to depart from their preferred template when they takes on a reinvigorated England in the fourth Test starting in Manchester on Wednesday.
While the pace department needs some urgent solutions, the spin has a slightly different landscape.
'I see them as well rested India players. Could have been selected for the Duleep Trophy.'
India's Test specialist Hanuma Vihari and Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran are among the seven Indian cricketers featuring in the Dhaka Premier League one-day tournament.
Underdogs Nagaland showed they are made of sterner stuff as their batters fought tooth and nail all day to score 365/5 and frustrate Tamil Nadu who would be fancying their chances of enforcing a follow-on after a mammoth 512-run first-innings total in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Bengaluru on Monday.
India 'A' completed a convincing six-wicket win over West Indies 'A' on the fourth and final day of the first unofficial Test, in North Sound, Antigua, on Saturday.
Round up of all the Ranji Trophy action on Thursday
Karun Nair's struggles at the crucial No. 3 position is a big headache for Team India.
India A have now taken an unassailable 2-0 lead with back-to-back wins, after the first game was abandoned due to inclement weather and the second match ended in a tie.
Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy then safely saw off the bowling to stay 73 for 5 till close of play, taking a 11-run lead.
India will ponder whether they want to include Washington Sundar, who is quite handy with the bat or Kuldeep Yadav, who is a much better wicket-taking option.
KL Rahul suffered a blow to his hand during practice but the touring side are optimistic the opener will play the second and final Test
Rohit Sharma, who missed the first Test after sustaining a thumb injury during the second ODI against Bangladesh, will no longer be travelling to Dhaka.
Earlier, India B were all out for 282 in their first innings in reply to D's first essay of 349.
Pace spearhead Harshit Rana received a well-deserved maiden call-up, following his impressive performances.
Mumbai's run machine Sarfaraz Khan was ruled out of the match because of injury.
'Will any coach think of keeping out Rohit and Kohli from the ODI team? That means there is something going on within the team against the two players.' Manoj Tiwary, who played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India, said iconic players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli deserve greater respect.
'I would like to see him play Test cricket, especially in these conditions.'
Mitesh Patel and Atit Sheth staged a spirited recovery for Baroda, taking them to 241 for six against defending champions Mumbai on day one of their Ranji Trophy opener in Vadodara on Friday.
'We won't miss Virat and Rohit. I have faith in our young team.'
K L Rahul or Abhimanyu Easwaran will open the batting for India if captain Rohit Sharma is not available for the first Test against Australia in Perth, said head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Having bid adieu to his stellar Test career a content man, Indian Test batting great Cheteshwar Pujara wouldn't mind a coaching stint or a role at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in the next stage of his cricketing journey.
The likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna are on their maiden Test tour of Australia.
Both Pant, who played a key role in India's series victory last time, and Carey are known for their aggressive brand of cricket.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy games being played in different parts of the country.
Suryakumar Yadav will miss the first round match after suffering a a sprain to his right thumb.
Ashwin went on to cite examples of other domestic stalwarts like Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who made a brilliant 153 for India Red, was named player of the match.
India 'A' tottering at 11 for 4 in the first hour after West Indies 'A' scored a decent 318 on the second day of the second unofficial 'Test'.
The legendary Sunil Gavaskar is confident that the stylish K L Rahul can excel on Australian tracks, just like he did in South Africa last year.
Kuldeep Sen blew away the last two batters with scorching pace and steep bounce to finish with a match haul of eight wickets as Rest of India won their 29th Irani Trophy with a walk-in-the-park eight-wicket victory over Saurashtra.
Former Australian skipper Aaron Finch said that Alex Carey and Rishabh Pant, two left-handed wicketkeeper-batters will be extremely important for their respective sides during the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.
Ankit Chatterjee, a 15-year-old left-handed batsman, made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bengal, becoming the youngest cricketer from the state to do so.
Returning from injury, Navdeep Saini's clinical spell saw the Madhya Pradesh top-order stumble in the Irani Cup in Gwalior.
The Ranji Trophy resumes on Thursday, promising a star-studded spectacle as Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant headline a host of big names returning to action.
Australia's batting great Ricky Ponting on Friday said he was 'surprised' by the Indian camp's wording around Rohit Sharma's absence from the Sydney Test.
It was learnt that once Kishan conveyed his decision, Tripura selector Jayanta Dey wanted Wriddhiman Saha and he was also contacted.
In pursuit of a 234-run target, India were cruising nicely at 155 for 3 in the second innings when bad light forced an early stumps.
