India’s Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill is close to match fitness. Sports Tak has learned that Gill underwent an unrestricted batting session at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. Gill who suffered neck injury during first Test has responded well to training. He showed no signs of symptoms during the training session.
Gill's availability for the five-T20I series against South Africa is subject to fitness. He will continue to undergo progressive batting and ground conditioning in the next few days. On December 5, he will undergo the fitness test. If he passes the test, he will get the Return to play (RTP) match clearance from CoE.
India are yet to announce their squad for the five-T20I series that begins on December 9 in Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium.
T20I series vs South Africa crucial for Gill
Gill's participation in the T20I series against the Proteas is crucial considering that there is not much time left in the T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. Replacing Sanju Samson as opener, Gill opened alongside Abhishek Sharma but could not put up big scores. From seven innings, he managed to score 127 runs at an average of 21.16 in the T20 Asia Cup 2025. His high score in the tournament was 47. The only impressive aspect was is strike rate of 151.19.
What if Gill doesn't recover for T20Is vs South Africa?
If Gill isn't declared fit for the five T20Is against Aiden Markram's South Africa, Samson may get his opening spot back. As an opener, he has scored 522 runs from 17 T20Is at an average of 32.62 and strike rate of 178.76. He has three centuries and one fifty as an opener in T20Is.
If Samson continues to serve the T20I team as a floater, the two back-up openers can be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. While Jaiswal has 723 runs from 23 T20Is as opener, Gaikwad has 500 runs from 17 T20Is. Both Jaiswal and Gaikwad have one T20I century each to their names.