Shubman Gill is a big doubt for the must-win second and final Test against South Africa, starting in Guwahati, on Saturday, November 22, 2025.
Gill was taken to hospital in Kolkata with a neck injury after the second day of the first Test, having retired hurt on four after facing only three deliveries in India's first innings. He was under observation in the hospital and didn't play any further part in the match before being discharged on Sunday evening.
The skipper is unlikely to travel to Guwahati with the Indian team, who are scheduled to depart from Kolkata on Wednesday.
'He has been advised three-four days rest and not to take a flight. In this situation, he is not advised to travel to Guwahati. We are monitoring his progress on a daily basis,' Cricket Association of Bengal sources told PTI.
After suffering a 30-run shock defeat in the opening Test in which their batters succumbed against South Africa's bowlers, India will be desperate for a quality replacement for the crucial No. 4 slot in case Gill is ruled out.
A look at possible replacements for Gill:
Sai Sudharsan
Sai Sudharan could come in for Gill. However, his inclusion could force India to rejig their batting line-up with Sudharsan reverting back to his original No. 3 position while either of Rishabh Pant or Dhruv Jurel taking over Gill's No. 4 slot.
Sudharsan's omission from the first Test was hard to understand. It was clear that India's batters struggle on turning pitches but despite that the Indian team management opted to drop a specialist batter in favour of an all-rounder.
Sudharsan's recent form wasn't encouraging either. He managed just 84 runs in four innings for India A in the two four-day matches against South Africa A ahead of the Test series.
Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal is the other specialist batter in the Indian squad.
The left-hander also struggled against South Africa A with scores of 6, 5, 5 and 24 in the two matches. Before that he had made 96 for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra last month.
Padikkal's last Test was against Australia in Perth in November 2024, when despite not being a part of the original 18-member Test squad, he was picked in the playing XI ahead of squad members Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Karun Nair
Will the selectors go back to Karun Nair?
Karun, who was dropped after the England tour, has been in sensational form in the Ranji Trophy for Karnataka.
He has piled up 600 runs in seven innings, averaging 100.33, hitting two fifties and two centuries, including a double hundred (233).
Karun was axed after the five Test series in England where he scored 205 runs in four matches, with only one fifty.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Primarily an opening batter, the highly-rated Ruturaj Gaikwad has been on the fringes of selection for the last few years.
The Maharashtra right-hander, who captains Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has been among the runs recently with scores of 68 not out and 117 for India A in the two one-day games against South Africa A.
Before that, he was that he was in excellent form at the start of the Ranji Trophy season, amassing 298 runs in four innings, with two fifties and a century.
A good player of spin, Gaikwad can easily fit into the No. 3 slot, giving the middle order a lot of stability.
Abhimanyu Easwaran
Abhimanyu Easwaran was picked for the tours of Australia and England but failed to make his elusive Test debut despite being part of the squad.
Bengal opener Easwaran was not picked for the home series against the West Indies and South Africa despite not getting a chance to prove himself.
Ideally, Easwaran would have been a top candidate to bat in case of injuries but his recent scores haven't been good. He fell for two ducks in the second four-day match against South Africa A while scoring 116 runs in the two Ranji Trophy matches before that.
In the Irani Trophy last month, playing for Rest of India he again failed to produce a big knock, managing 52 and 17 against Vidarbha.
Sarfaraz Khan
Sarfaraz Khan is a quality middle order batter, who found himself out of favour after the tour of Australia where he didn't get a single match.
The Mumbai batter last played a Test during New Zealand's tour of India last year, where he scored 150 in the first Test in Bengaluru. However, he couldn't muster big scores in the next two Tests as India lost the series 0-3 and never got another opportunity after that series.
What goes against Sarfaraz is that he hasn't enjoyed a good run with the bat this Ranji Trophy season. He managed scores 42, 32, 1, 15, 5 not out and 16 in the first four games before he bounced back with 67 in Mumbai's ongoing match against Puducherry.