Indian Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill faced a major setback in his career, with a sudden neck injury forcing him out of consecutive games early in his captaincy career. Now, some reports from PTI have indicated that the injury is more serious than a minor cramp.
India missed their captain Shubman Gill in the first Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, as he played with just 10 batsmen in both innings of the game. After this Gill was declared injured and sent back to Mumbai. Nitish Kumar Reddy was called in his place.
It seems that the neck injury has worsened, and hence, he has been ruled out of the ODI series, which will be played right after the conclusion of the Test series. This will be his second series as captain of the Indian team, as his first series ended with a score of 2–1 in favor of rivals Australia.
Shubman Gill’s injury is not limited to just ‘neck spasm’ – reports suggest
The neck spasm first came to light when Gill hit a good sweep off Simon Harmer, immediately catching his neck and the physio arriving only to take him off the field. After this he was also admitted to Woodlands Hospital in Kolkata.
According to reports claimed by PTI, the Indian captain’s injury is not limited to neck spasm and he will require extensive rest, prompting the management to avoid any risks with the dynamic batsman.
“Gill has been given an injection to ease his symptoms and will require a period of rest before resuming rehabilitation, training and skill work. There is every possibility that he could be doubtful for the T20 series as well,” a BCCI source said, as reported by PTI.
Shubman Gill has replaced Sai Sudarshan in the Indian playing eleven for the second Test in Guwahati and Rishabh Pant has been made the acting captain of India in his place. On the other hand, KL Rahul has been made the ODI captain.
Shubman Gill may also miss the T20 series
After a PTI report claiming an extended period of absence and then suggesting rehab for Shubman Gill, it can be assured that he is most likely to miss the T20I series, which is scheduled to begin on December 9 next month.
The T20I series will conclude on December 19, and then the Indian team will get a little rest phase of over a month before returning with white-ball action against New Zealand from January 11. Shubman Gill is expected to return in that series.
If the Indian captain misses the T20 series against South Africa starting on December 9, Sanju Samson could see this as his biggest chance to return to the top of the batting order.
This was the same opponent South Africa against whom Sanju Samson had scored two of his three centuries in the shortest format of the game. However, after the Asia Cup Rising Stars, there was also talk of bringing Vaibhav Suryavanshi into the Indian senior men’s team.
The South Africa T20 match could be interesting for Abhishek Sharma’s opening partner.
Also read: Prithvi Shaw takes over captaincy from Ruturaj Gaikwad in a big step
