Indian captain Shubman Gill had to be admitted to hospital after the batsman retired hurt at Eden Gardens. However, the Indian team has denied any workload issue and claimed that it was a bad night’s sleep.
As India and South Africa clash for the first Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, captain Shubman Gill suffered a major blow in the form of an injury. He got injured after facing just three balls in the innings.
BCCI had said that Shubman Gill’s neck spasm will be monitored and his return will be planned accordingly. Shubman Gill did not come to bat in this innings because he retired hurt and then in his absence Rishabh Pant is captaining the team.
Shubman Gill admitted to Kolkata hospital due to neck spasm
Shubman Gill did not look comfortable while taking the field with the willow and was retired hurt on four runs after facing just three balls in the innings. After the physio came for examination, he left holding his neck with his hand.
Gill was pulled into an ambulance with a cervical collar around his neck and taken to a hospital in Kolkata, hours after retiring hurt while batting at the Eden Gardens, PTI reported.
Concerns have grown after it was confirmed that he was taken to a hospital in Kolkata, although the BCCI claimed that the cricketer was ruled out only due to neck spasms.
Morne Morkel did not consider Gill’s fitness a matter of workload
Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel has refused to accept additional workload on Shubman Gill due to his neck stiffness in recent tournaments and series. He refused to believe that it was a big issue and claimed that it was the reason for the poor night’s sleep.
Morkel, when asked if Gill’s packed multi-format calendar was a factor, said, “Yes, I think we first need to determine how he got the stiff neck, maybe a bad night’s sleep.” “I don’t think it is, or we could burden it,” he said.
He said, “Gill is a very fit lad, he takes care of himself very well, so it’s unfortunate this morning that he woke up with a stiff neck and that led to him having to carry through the day, which was important for us. At that time we were going to need another kind of partnership batting around him, and… it was just bad timing.”
India headed towards another test victory under the captaincy of Shubman Gill.
The Indian bowlers dominated the first day, with Jasprit Bumrah taking five wickets in the first innings at the Eden Gardens. However, despite a good hand from the bowlers, the Indian batsmen failed to impress and were bowled out for just 189 runs, taking a lead of just 30.
The Proteas suffered another major collapse in the second innings, as seven wickets fell for only 93 runs on the board. Ravindra Jadeja took 4 wickets and Kuldeep Yadav twice, with Axar Patel also taking one wicket, restricting them to a lead of 63 runs.
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