IND vs SA 1st T20I: Shubman Gill Falls Cheaply On International Return, Falls To Lungi Ngidi In First Over

India National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Scorecard: Indian T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill failed to leave an impact on his comeback in the international arena, as he fell cheaply in the first T20I against South Africa on Tuesday. Notably, South Africa's Lungi Ngidi got him out after getting hit for a boundary as Gill faced just two deliveries in his comeback.

South Africa won the toss and invited India to bat first on a bouncy red-soil wicket in Cuttack.

It is worth noting that Gill headed into the series after recovering from a neck injury. He sustained the injury during the first test against South Africa in Kolkata last month and underwent rehabilitation before being cleared by the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. Following India’s 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa on Saturday, head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed Gill’s readiness for the five-match T20I series.

Also Read: IND vs SA 1st T20 Live Scorecard

The 26-year-old was named in the playing XI for the series opener. He will open the innings with Abhishek Sharma and take on the leadership role as the deputy to skipper Suryakumar Yadav.

Speaking to Murali Kartik, one of the members of the commentary and presentation panel for the series, before the start of play here in Cuttack, Gill said that he is mentally ready to get back to the grind. “Body feels perfectly fine. I spent a bit of time at the CoE and perfectly fine physically and mentally feeling ready,” Gill said.

When Kartik asked him how he had been feeling and the nature of his neck injury, which kept him out of the Indian setup for nearly a month, he stated, “I had a disc bulge in my neck which was hitting the nerves. When I went there, I had a bit of a spasm before the start of the play in the morning and when I played the match I think I got a strain on my neck and got a bulge which hit the nerves. I had to go to the hospital for a couple of days but recovered well on time.”

For India, T20 vice-captain Gill and all-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to the eleven, having missed some of the recent action with respective injuries.

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India National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Players:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donnovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.

Inputs from Agency