The Indian cricket team is slowly undergoing a transition, and while none of the players are assured of their position or even their future within the Indian squad, Shubman Gill is certainly in the plans for the future. He has been given the captaincy in Test and ODI and was considered eligible to take over the T20I captaincy after Suryakumar Yadav.
However, a major obstacle to Gill and Gambhir’s dream of captaincy in all formats was Gill’s poor T20I form and his sudden injury during the Test series, which has now jeopardized his return for the T20I series as well.
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Shubman Gill’s unavailability could challenge the Indian selectors
During India’s first Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Shubman Gill played just three balls, hit a boundary and the next moment he grabbed his neck and left the field. He never returned during the match and was ruled out of both the next match and the ODI series.
Midway through the ODI series, the Indian T20I selection committee is most likely to organize a review meeting in Raipur during the start of the second ODI between India and South Africa. A decision on Shubman Gill is also likely to be made.
Shubman was flown back to Mumbai, and after that he would begin rehabilitation with several concerns about his fitness. India may not want to risk him for the T20Is as they will have some time to relax after this series and return for the New Zealand white-ball series next year.
Yashasvi Jaiswal may return to the T20I lineup for India
Revsports reporter Rohit Juglan has claimed that if Shubman Gill is not available for the T20I series, the Indian management could consider pairing opener Abhishek Sharma with out-of-favour Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Although Jaiswal was a regular in the game’s longest format for India, he was dropped from the T20I squad since the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup and subsequent series. Abhishek Sharma has served as a dynamic opening option, and Sanju Samson’s promotion led to Jaiswal being sidelined from the T20I side.
This could mean that Sanju Samson would either have to evolve into a middle-order batsman or he would be dropped from the squad as he no longer figures in the opening plans for Gautam Gambhir.
If Shubman is unavailable for T20 series (in COE) – Team Mgt considers trying Abhishek & Jaiswal and not Sanju at top
There is a review meeting today with T20 selection meeting— Storm Rohit (@Rohitjugal) December 2, 2025
Hardik Pandya is likely to return to international cricket after two months of rehabilitation
India may be without the services of Shubman Gill, but there is a good chance that their most experienced all-rounder will return to the shortest format. Hardik Pandya is likely to return to the Indian squad for the South Africa T20Is.
Pandya’s injury dates back to the Asia Cup, which kept him out of action for two months as he also missed the tours against Australia and the South African ODIs. Pandya returned with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and convinced everyone with his good performance against Punjab in Hyderabad.
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