- By Namrata Vijay
- Sun, 07 Dec 2025 11:39 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs SA 3rd ODI: Shubman Gill didn't bat in the second inning of the series opener as he had sustained a neck injury on the second day of the match. Owing to the injury, he didn't play in the second match as well, which the host lost by a huge margin of 400 runs in Guwahati. He also gave the three-match ODI series a miss, which the host won 2-1. But he is part of India's T20I team for the five-match series against South Africa, which will begin next week, and he will be subject to fitness clearance.
The KL Rahul-led side had beaten South Africa by 9 wickets in the last ODI and won the match, where the head coach attended the post-match press conference and provided a huge update on Gill's availability.
As per Gambhir, Gill has been declared fit to play in the T20I series beginning from Tuesday in Cuttack. The other 4 matches will be held on December 11 in Mullanpur, December 14 in Dharamsala, December 17 in Lucknow, and December 19 in Ahmedabad.
“Shubman is ready to start; that is why he has been selected, and obviously he is fit and fine and hungry to go," Gambhir told reporters in the post-match press conference.
Gill won't be leading India's T20I team in this series. Suryakumar Yadav will be leading the team from the front in this series, where Gill will be the vice captain.
He will open the innings in this series along with Abhishek Sharma, who had won the Player of the series award both in the Asia Cup and in the T20I series against Australia.
Abhishek Sharma had scripted history in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as he had become the first Indian batter to have hit 100 sixes in the shortest format in a single year. He had smashed 47 sixes till now after playing in 17 T20I matches. If he can hit three more sixes in the T20I sixes against South Africa, then he will be the second batter from a Test-playing team to have smashed 50 sixes in a single year.