Doctors had advised Shubman Gill to rest for at least five days. Counting five days of rest after the Eden Test ended, that would be November 21. The second Test in Guwahati is scheduled to start from November 22.
Now, according to reports on Tuesday, it will be difficult for Shubman to play in Guwahati. Even though Team India started preparing for the second Test at Eden on this day, Shubman was not seen in practice. In the first innings of the Eden Test, Shubman had to leave the field due to neck pain after playing just three balls. He then had to be hospitalised. He could not participate in the rest of the Test. Reports suggest he will not travel to Guwahati with the team on Wednesday. However, the Indian board has not officially announced anything about this yet.
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Who will take the lead?
Shubman not being able to play in Guwahati means vice-captain Rishabh Pant will lead. But the question is, who will play at number four in Shubman's place? India currently has two options. Sai Sudarshan and Devdutt Padikkal. Both are left-handed batters, and both have played Tests before. In the series against West Indies, Sai Sudarshan scored 87 and 39 in two innings batting at number three in the second Test last October. Yet Washington Sundar was played at number three at Eden instead of him. Will Washington also play at three in Guwahati? That is also an important question.
Players to rely on this Test
Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar, and Sai Sudarshan were seen practising in full swing at Eden on this day. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has also been called up for the Guwahati Test. From how long Sai batted in the nets, Sai could play in Guwahati in Shubman's place.
Again, despite being identified as a villain across the country, head coach Gautam Gambhir was not willing to call the Eden pitch 'unplayable'.
Gambhir was seen at Eden on this day, laughing and embracing curator Sujan Mukhopadhyay. That picture naturally went viral on social media. Earlier, the former India captain had clearly said that with the team India has, they should be able to win playing on good five-day Test wickets. At Eden, the wicket the team wanted was provided.
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During Gautam Gambhir's tenure, India won the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup in white-ball cricket, but the Test performance was not good at all. India won four Tests at home during his tenure, but two of those were against Bangladesh and two against the West Indies. Teams that are very weak in Test cricket. Meanwhile, New Zealand came to this country last year and beat India 3–0 on spinning tracks. For the first time in 12 years, India had to lose a series at home. After that, with South Africa winning at Eden, India will not win this two-Test series either. Abroad, India lost the series in Australia 1–3 and drew the series in England 2–2. After the Eden defeat, former players like Gavaskar and Pujara have become vocal in criticism.
All eyes are now on the Guwahati Test.
