With a series loss looming large, India are all set to miss their captain, Shubman Gill, for the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati. Gill, India's Test and ODI captain, suffered a neck spasm that he suffered on Day 2 of the first Test that began on November 14 in Kolkata.
Gill batted for only three balls before he experienced pain in his neck while sweeping off-spinner Simon Harmer. The skipper walked off the field and did not take part in the match any further, with the hosts down to 10 men and Rishabh Pant acting as the stand-in skipper.
It seems Gill is set to miss the second Test with India, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak highlighting that the team will not take risks in playing him if there is any 'doubt' over him.
"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 [if he plays]."
With Gill unlikely to play, Pant would stand in for him again as he did in the major part of the opener. But how can India replace Gill the batter, and why is Sai Sudharsan not the best option?
Why India should not go with Sudharsan?
Sudharsan was among the three players on the bench for India in the first Test in Guwahati, along with Devdutt Padikkal and Akash Deep. He was being groomed for the No.3 spot but had to sit out from the opener against the Proteas as India went with an extra batter in Dhruv Jurel and also with four spinners.
Should Sudharsan come into the Playing XI, it would mean India will have a highly left-handed heavy batting order. The hosts played five left-handers in their top eight and would then field six in the top eight if Sudharsan comes in for Gill.
While having left-handers is not the problem but what is, is that South Africa have an off-spinner in Simon Harmer, who has scalped more than 1000 wickets in first-class cricket and was also the Player of the Match in the Guwahati Test.
The 36-year-old took eight wickets across the two innings and dismissed six left-handers in his eight scalps. Playing another left-hander will mean that he will have another favourable opponent and India just two right-handers in the top eight in KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel.
Who can come in for Gill?
Nitish Kumar Reddy has been called into the squad after being released from the opener to play in the unofficial ODIs against South Africa. He can come in for Gill but as he is an all-rounder who bats lower-down the order, he is not a direct replacement for the Indian skipper.
Another option is to bring in someone like Sarfaraz Khan or Ruturaj Gaikwad, or even Karun Nair into the squad and field one of them. All three are generally good against the spin.
Moreover, Nair is in form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy after having scored 73, 175*, 233 and 95 in his season. Gaikwad played in two matches of the unofficial ODIs between India A and South Africa A and scored 117 and 68*.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz was not part of India A's recent squads and that might suggest that he is a bit behind in the scheme of things. But with less than 48 hours to go before the second Test, India will have to act quickly if they have to call for a replacement from outside the squad, or they will have to play with either Nitish or Sudharsan.
India's Probable Playing XI for 2nd Test:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
