Gill turns to Suthar to fill the all-rounder gap

The ground staff at Galle were bracing themselves for a spell of passing showers, making their way to the middle with a giant big blue cover for the pitch. The sun was still out but the dark clouds were approaching. Before they fully descended over the venue, Manav Suthar bowled on the side pitch and had Sairaj Bahutule looking over.

This was a day out from the Galle Test, when India's practice session was optional. On match-day minus two, his training was more intense in the separate nets adjacent to the main ground. But that was true for every member of the squad, as they hit the ground running for the first time before the series opener.

Suthar didn't bat as the top-six occupied the three nets for majority of the time, but his dual ability is not lost on the India captain. His foray into Tests came against Afghanistan last month - a non-WTC Test where Ravindra Jadeja got rest. But that he remains firmly in conversation to continue his rise on this Sri Lankan tour, despite being another left-arm spinner like Jadeja, speaks to his abilities.

India's approach under Gill and Gautam Gambhir has involved all-rounders in the Test line-up, even at home. But injuries to Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar have forced them to look in a different and slightly untested direction.

"I think that's where someone like Manav comes in," Gill said on match day minus one when asked of the all-rounder void in his team. "He's got the ability with the bat. Of course, you need a bit of experience, you need some belief and confidence. And that will only come once you're out there, you're playing, you score some runs.

"And hopefully he does that in the series. He's someone with a great skill with bowling. And he's got the potential to be a really good number eight batsman as well."

Gill isn't overselling Suthar's batting abilities. The Rajasthan all-rounder has a first-class century and 1000-plus runs in 51 innings. Just last week, he showed he could also bat time - facing 90 deliveries for his 41 in the warm-up game against SLC XI. Only Devdutt Padikkal and Ravindra Jadeja batted longer. India had rewarded Saransh Jain for his domestic excellence with a Test squad call-up as a like-for-like Sundar replacement (left-hand batter, right-arm off-spinner), but Suthar appears to have Gill's vote for the third spinner and all-rounder's spot.

Life, though, isn't as straightforward for Gill when it comes to picking his second pacer, with Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar vying for it. Brar bent his back in the nets two days out from the Test and was the one other bowler at the optional session, where bowling was followed by lengthy conversations with Morne Morkel. The tall quick picked 10 wickets (4/77 & 6/68) for India A at Galle last month, and has skills that Gill has an appreciation for. But in Krishna, Gill has a pacer with seven Tests, valuable hit-the-deck abilities and a penchant to improve on the go.

"They both [Gurnoor and Prasidh Krishna] are very skilled bowlers and they bowled really well in the practice match. We have seen how good Gurnoor is with the old ball when nothing is happening," Gill offered. "You need that bit of extra pace, extra bounce. He's obviously very tall as well. But I think Prasidh recently has been bowling the best that I have ever seen him bowl.In red ball and also in white ball. So it will be a very tough decision for us."