Shubman Gill remains in doubt for Guwahati Test
Shubman Gill remains a big doubt for the Guwahati Test against South Africa, as he was an absentee for the second nets session in a row for India. He was missing in action when they trained on Tuesday (November 18) in Eden Gardens and then skipped the one on Thursday (November 20) in Guwahati.
The India captain, who suffered a neck spasm in the first Test and had to be hospitalised, travelled with the team to Guwahati on Wednesday. If he misses out, his deputy Rishabh Pant will lead the side.
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak revealed that the team will push the decision until the evening of the eve of the Test to give Gill the best chance of making it back. "He is definitely recovering really well," Kotak said. "Now, the decision [whether to play him or not] will be taken tomorrow evening. The physios, doctors, they will have to take a call that, [even] if he is fully recovered, [during the] game, he should not get that spasm again. If we have a guarantee that, very likely, he won't have this issue again, then he will play. If there is a doubt, then I am sure, he will take rest [for] one more game, because it won't be helpful to the team [to play him with an issue]."
Often, India's nets two days out from a game is an indicator of their preferred set up. The afternoon session on Thursday began with KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel lining up in that order in the four nets available at the venue. Jurel batted at No.4 in the second innings of the Kolkata fixture, and could bat there again if Gill remains side-lined. The real big question is about who comes into the XI for Gill.
India's options are probably three-fold. They have Sai Sudharsan, who lost his spot in Kolkata to facilitate a tactical manoeuvre. There's also Devdutt Padikkal, who has batted at #3 and 4 in the two Tests he has played. If either of them comes in, however, India will have seven left-handers in their line-up and might just weaponise South Africa's off-spinner Simon Harmer further. Kotak however, rubbished the match-up worry as being a 'little overrated'.
"They also had a left-arm spinner [Keshav Maharaj]. If we had seven right-handed batters..." Kotak said. "I believe that you have to play well. An off-spinner bowling to a left-hander does not mean the left-hander has to get out. We also have two left-arm spinners and they had nine right-handers, did they get out? So maybe that is a little overrated."
Either could slot in at two-drop if picked, but that could send the likes of Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel moving a spot lower while Rishabh Pant holds his place at #5. India's other option is to pick one more all-rounder - Nitish Reddy, who can bat lower and allow the team to keep Jurel at #4. Nitish had been released from the squad for the first Test for the India A 50-over games but was recalled sooner than expected. Instead of playing all three games and joining the squad in Guwahati, like originally planned, he skipped the last fixture and got together with the team in Kolkata and travelled to Guwahati with them.
He was also at training on Thursday, bowling in tandem with Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. In the net that Jurel batted, Sudharsan soon followed suit while Padikkal bowled right-arm off-spin for a long period of time. A while later, Sudharsan arrived at the main ground where he was seen shadow practicing at the top of the matchday pitch. He also had a lengthy dig in an optional session on Tuesday in Kolkata with a focus on playing spin.
Gill suffered his injury on Day 2 of the first Test just three balls into his innings. The India captain slog swept Harmer for a four but appeared in immediate pain as he couldn't move his head freely. He clutched the back of his neck while the physio arrived to attend to him. A few moments later he walked off the field and wasn't available to bat in India's second innings. He needed hospitalisation, where the spasm was confirmed. After being discharged a day later, he was seen wearing a cervical collar.
