IND vs SA 2025: Shubman Gill opens up on neck injury that forced him out of entire Test series

India Test captain Shubman Gill has revealed details about the injury he suffered during India’s first innings against South Africa in the Kolkata Test. Gill, who had swept a delivery for four, experienced sudden discomfort in his neck as he returned to his stance, forcing him to retire hurt.

The injury ruled him out for the remainder of the Test, as well as the second Test in Guwahati and the subsequent ODI series. Gill has since recovered and made his return to the Indian side for the ongoing T20I series against the Proteas.

“I’m definitely fine. My body feels perfectly fine. I spent a bit of time at the COE and I’m perfectly fine physically, and mentally feeling ready. I had a kind of 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 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 I recovered well after that,” said Gill as quoted by The Indian Express.

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While recovering from injury, Gill watched from the sidelines as India suffered a 0-2 Test series defeat to South Africa, their second consecutive home whitewash after last year’s 0-3 loss to New Zealand. Reflecting on the setbacks, Gill admitted that the Test matches did not unfold as he had hoped. He added that the team is now focused on winning the T20I series as they build momentum ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“Obviously, watching my team play the Test matches didn’t go as we would have hoped for. But I think we played the one-dayers pretty well, and hopefully we’ll be able to top off the T20s here. The last 10 T20s now we have before the start of the World Cup, so hopefully we’ll find our momentum and rhythm, and the kind of play that we want to play in the World Cup,” said Gill.

“Momentum is one thing definitely any team heading into the World Cup wants to strive for momentum. Apart from that, finding the right sort of combinations on different surfaces that we might have to face in the World Cup. There might be a chance we’ll play on some surfaces or some grounds where there would be a lot of dew, or some grounds where there won’t be that much dew. So finding the right kind of combinations for those conditions would be the key for us,” he added.