Gill heads to CoE hoping for T20I clearance
Shubman Gill is on the way to recovery and there is an air of optimism about his availability for the T20I series that follows the ongoing ODIs against South Africa. The first of the five T20Is is in Cuttack on December 9, and if all goes well, the India Test and ODI skipper, who is the vice-captain for T20Is, might be among those assembling in Bhubaneswar for the match.
As of Monday (December 1), Gill is expected to be at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. He will reach there later in the day and start rehab for his neck injury straight away. At this stage, there is more than a 50 percent chance that he will be cleared by the CoE to resume international cricket, which he has missed since the second day of the first Test in Kolkata last month (November 15).
Once he left the Indian team in Guwahati, Gill travelled to Mumbai for consultations with specialists regarding his neck spasms. He spent three days in the city before heading home to Chandigarh, where he continued his personal rehab. On Monday, he set out for Bengaluru.
The spasms he suffered on the second day of the Eden Test had not only ruled him out of the two Tests against the visiting South African side but also sidelined him from the three-match ODI series. The squad for the five-match T20I series is expected to be selected in the next few days and there is a possibility he will be cleared for the matches.
Sources say he has worked intensely on his recovery and is very eager to return to the field at the earliest. "The captain has put in a lot of hard work during the rehab process. It is up to the CoE now," a source said, adding, "If everything goes according to plan, he should be in Cuttack by December 6-7, when the T20I squad is expected to assemble."
Bumrah likely for T20Is
Jasprit Bumrah, who has been rested for the ongoing ODIs, is expected to return for the T20I series. The India spearhead is being used judiciously by the selectors and team management, and sources indicate he will be back for the Twenty20 series, where his match workload will be limited to bowling only four overs. After the opening T20I in Cuttack, the remaining games will be played in New Chandigarh (December 11), Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17) and Ahmedabad (December 19).
