Shubman Gills availability for remainder of Kolkata Test in serious doubt

New Delhi: Indian captain Shubman Gill’s availability for the remainder of the first Test match against South Africa is under serious doubt after his neck immobilised on the second day at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Hours after he retired hurt on 4 runs during India's first innings against the Proteas, Gill was stretchered into an ambulance to nearby Woodland hospital in the city.

The Indian skipper is expected to be under observation on Saturday night and looks in serious doubt for participating on the third day on Sunday. The 25-year-old initially walked off on four clutching the back of neck after what seemed to be a whiplash while sweeping Proteas bowlers Simon Harmer for a boundary.

The physio of the Indian team attended to him immediately and the Indian opener went back to the pavilion after facing just three balls in the innings. Few hours later, the intensity of his condition was realised after he was seen being taken away with his neck secured in a cervical collar, raising a doubt for the third day's participation.

South Africa assistant coach Morne Morkel blamed it on bad 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 load,' Morkel said, when asked if Gill’s packed multi-format calendar was a factor.

Gill, who has been playing non-stop cricket across all the formats since leading India for the first time in the England Test series earlier this year, has hardly had any downtime, joining the side right after the Australia white-ball series that ended last Saturday.

Morkel, however, reiterated that India’s skipper is among the best-conditioned athletes going around.

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.'

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The untoward incident has left Team India with fingers crossed as the game heads for an early finish, with day three on Sunday likely to be the last. South Africa (159 and 93/7) lost the track in the second innings against India (189) and ended Day 2 with just 63-run lead and three wickets remaining.

(With PTI inputs)