Before the fourth T20I between India and South Africa in Lucknow was called off due to smog, India vice-captain Shubman Gill was ruled out of the remaining games in the series, according to a report.
Sources were quoted as saying by PTI, that the out-of-form opener will miss the last Twenty20 International against South Africa due to a toe ailment.
It was reported that Gill got injured during a training session, and every safety step is being taken to guarantee a quick recovery.
“Shubman had an extended batting session at the nets on the eve of the fourth T20 International. Towards the end of the session, he was hit on the toe while batting in the nets. He was in pain and was hobbling. It would have been difficult for him to play on Wednesday. Hence he didn’t accompany the team as there was little chance of him playing this game. At this point it is difficult to say if he will play in Ahmedabad,” the PTI report quoted a BCCI source as saying.
The national selection committee and team management would like to take all necessary precautions regarding one of their specialist top order batters because the New Zealand Twenty20 Internationals are the final series before the T20 World Cup and the squad for both the bilateral series and the major event will be the same.
Due to a neck injury he suffered on the second day of the first game in Kolkata, which necessitated a two-day hospital stay, Gill was also unable to play in the Test and ODI series against the Proteas. He was meant to captain the squad during the Guwahati Test and the subsequent ODI series, however he missed both.
Before the T20I series, he was deemed fit by the Centre of Excellence (COE), despite criticism that he should be in the team instead of Sanju Samson, who had scored three hundreds in the previous season.
Gill’s returns for the series have been poor, with scores of 4 and 0 in the first two games and a run-a-ball 28 in the third game at Dharamsala, when he didn’t appear to be in his element.
But the entire coaching staff, led by Gautam Gambhir, is adamant that their star batsman will do well at the T20 World Cup, which begins in February of next year.
