India’s T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill has spoken about the neck injury that kept him out of action for close to a month, explaining the nature of the problem and his recovery process. Gill suffered the injury during the opening Test of the two-match series against South Africa in Kolkata, which brought his international season to a halt.Gill, who captains India in Tests and ODIs, faced only three balls in the first innings at Eden Gardens. He felt discomfort that turned into pain after playing a sweep against Simon Harmer. He was taken off the field and later admitted to hospital. The injury ruled him out of the second Test in Guwahati and the following three-match ODI series.
After initial treatment, Gill reported to the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru for rehabilitation. He was cleared by the medical team earlier this week and joined the Indian squad in Cuttack for the five-match T20I series. Ahead of his return, Gill said the break helped him recover fully.“I am fine, spent a bit of time at the COE. Perfectly fine physically and mentally too. I had a kind of disc bulge in my neck that was hitting my nerves. I had a bit of a spasm before the start of play that morning, and when I played the match, I strained my neck and the bulge hit the nerve, so I had to go to the hospital for a couple of days,” Gill said in an interview before the first T20I.South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first in the opening T20I. Gill returned to action but could not get going, scoring four runs off two balls. He hit Lungi Ngidi for a four off the first ball he faced before being dismissed by the pacer on the next delivery, leaving India at 5 for 1 after three balls. Follow live updatesEarlier, South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bowl first in the opening match of the five-game T20I series.
