Shubman Gill injury update: India Test captain taken to hospital for scan, ‘woke up with stiff neck’

Shubman Gill swept Simon Harmer for a boundary at backward square. A rather authoritative way to get off the mark. If you had stopped watching the Kolkata Test right there, you would have assumed that Gill would score a fifty or hundred and India would end the second day at the Eden Gardens with a sizeable lead.

But none of this happened. Instead, after the boundary, Gill walked off the field. India was 79/2, still trailing by 80 runs. In the end, the hosts managed a mere 30-run lead. Who knows how big a difference the Indian Test captain would have made, but his absence was surely felt.

Shubman Gill taken to hospital for scans

He didn’t return to bat as India finished at 189/9, and Rishabh Pant took over the captaincy duties. According to ESPNcricinfo, after the day’s play, Gill was wearing a neck brace and was stretchered out of the dressing room to the ambulance with the team doctor to the Woodlands Hospital for scans.

It’s expected that Gill will be kept in the hospital overnight, casting doubt over his further participation in the India vs South Africa 1st Test. In the post-day press conference, India’s assistant coach Morne Morkel revealed that Gill had woken up with a stiff neck.

“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,” Morkel told reporters in Kolkata.

Workload needs to be managed?

Since February, Gill has been playing non-stop cricket. Champions Trophy, Indian Premier League, tour of England, Asia Cup, Test series against West Indies, tour of Australia, and now the South Africa Test series. Plus, he now leads in two formats. On this front, Morkel was asked whether Gill’s workload hadn’t been managed properly.

“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 replied.

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