India captain Shubman Gill was on Sunday ruled out of the remainder of the opening Test against South Africa after sustaining a neck injury. Before the third day began, the BCCI provided an update on Gill’s injury.
Gill was retired hurt on 4 after sustaining a neck injury while batting on the second day of the first Test in Kolkata.
“Captain Shubman Gill had a neck injury on Day 2 of the ongoing Test against South Africa in Kolkata. He was taken to the hospital for examination after the end of day’s play,” the team management said in a statement.
“He is currently under observation in the hospital. He will take no further part in the Test match. He will continue to be monitored by the BCCI medical team,” it added.
Hours after retiring injured during India’s opening innings, Gill was stretchered into an ambulance and taken to a hospital in Kolkata on Saturday, with his neck immobilized.
After performing a sweep for four off South Africa spinner Simon Harmer, the Indian captain felt pain in his neck right away. He left the field after receiving some brief attention from the team’s medical personnel.
For the remainder of the game, India will be led by vice-captain Rishabh Pant, who did so on Saturday when Gill was away.
Morne Morkel, India’s assistant coach, attributed it to a poor night’s “sleep and not his workload.”
“Yeah, I think we first need to determine how he got the neck stiffness, maybe just a bad night’s sleep. I don’t think it’s, or we can put it down to the (work) load,” Morkel told the media after day two.
Since guiding India for the first time in the demanding England Test series earlier this year, Gill has been playing cricket in all formats nonstop. He joined the team immediately following the Australia white-ball series, which concluded at Gabba on Saturday, and has hardly had any time off.
But Morkel reaffirmed that the captain of India is one of the most fit athletes in the world.
Calling the timing unfortunate, the South African added: “Gill is a very fit guy, he looks after himself very well, so it’s just unfortunate this morning that he woke up with a stiff neck and that carried him into the day, which was crucial for us. Another sort of partnership with him batting around was going to be needed for us at the time and… just bad timing.”
