Ahead of the warm-up first-class match between India and Australia A at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, all eyes were on the openers.

Good news for India is that, even if one huge score has been missing, Gill has looked increasingly confident with every passing innings on this. In the first practice match, after getting out for a first-ball duck in the first innings, he followed it up with a bizarre 29 off 24.

In the second practice match, in a first innings where Jasprit Bumrah was the top scorer, Gill’s 43 (58) was the other highlight. He looked in fantastic touch and it took a peach of a delivery to get him out, and he was, at least, not guilty of throwing his wicket away.

He went a step further at SCG on Saturday and made a classy 65 (78), in another innings filled with boundaries. The Punjab youngster was unfortunate to be given out as well, when he looked set to carry on and score a big one against a depleted Aussie bowling unit.

With Prithvi Shaw, who has opened in all four innings on this tour, looking out of form and lacking confidence, Gill might have just done enough to seal his place at the top of the order.

Watch highlights of his innings below:

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