Shubman Gill, India’s recently appointed Test captain, has been ruled out of the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati, his recovery from a neck spasm judged insufficiently stable to risk a recurrence. Rishabh Pant, vice-captain, will lead in his absence.
Gill’s injury, sustained in the Kolkata Test while batting, had already forced him to retire hurt and withdraw from the remainder of the match. He was later hospitalised for observation. Though he has made progress, medical advice recommends additional rest, raising doubts over his participation in the ODI leg beginning November 30 as well.
India, 1-0 down after a calamitous collapse for 93 on a spiteful Eden Gardens surface, must now consider the shape of a top order that grows ever more left-handed. Candidates to replace Gill, B Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal and Nitish Kumar Reddy, pose contrasting possibilities, though only Reddy offers a right-hand option in a line-up that already featured six left-handers in Kolkata. That imbalance played neatly into the hands of Simon Harmer, South Africa’s match-winning offspinner.
Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, for his part, dismissed the hand-orientation debate as “a little overrated,” reminding observers that Keshav Maharaj, a left-arm spinner, also operated effectively against India’s right-handers. But the contrast between Kolkata’s raging surface and the more forgiving Guwahati pitch has already altered India’s early training patterns. Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel and Sudharsan were among the first to bat in the nets, while Padikkal spent the early session bowling part-time offspin.
Reddy’s return to training, after being released temporarily for India A duties, gives the selectors latitude. On a surface carrying a healthier thatch of grass, his seam-bowling could restore balance in a side unlikely to field a fourth spinner or a second left-arm orthodox option.
Axar Patel bowled sparingly in the early portion of training, rejoining the group later; Bumrah, Siraj and Akash Deep worked their usual spells in the fast-bowling nets. Yet as ever with India’s pre-Test rhythms, little is firmly prescriptive: players guard their routines, and practice order is only loosely predictive.
What is certain is that India, unsettled by a loss that exposed both their fragility and their over-reliance on Gill, now enter Guwahati not only without their captain but without the clarity that comes from form or continuity. Pant’s stewardship arrives sooner than expected; whether it steadies India will be known soon enough.
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