IND vs SA: Shubman Gill ruled out of T20Is against South Africa, keeper-batter named replacement

In what has been the latest development, as per the reports in Revsportz, it is learned that Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the T20I series against South Africa. Also, Sanju Samson is now all set to take the opening spot alongside Abhishek Sharma.

Shubman Gill faced a toe injury just ahead of the fourth T20I against South Africa, which was supposed to take place at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday. But due to the excessive fog, the conditions weren’t fit to play and hence the match was abandoned.

During that game too, Sanju Samson was all set to take the opening spot but unfortunately, the game got called off. However, now it will be a great opportunity for him to reclaim his opening spot, which was taken by Shubman Gill ahead of the Asia Cup 2025.

Sanju Samson slammed three centuries as opener in 2024

Shubman Gill took over the T20I opening slot but failed to score runs. This raised a lot of concerns over his spot in the team, especially with Sanju Samson firing as an opener in the limited opportunities that he got in the side at the top of the order.

Samson slammed three centuries as an opener in 2024 and it seemed that he would lock that position. But that wasn’t the case as Gill was back in the mix as vice-captain and Sanju was pushed down the order but he couldn’t deliver.

This meant that Sanju Samson was dropped from the XI with Jitesh Sharma replacing him in the side. The upcoming last T20I against South Africa will be a great opportunity for Samson to reclaim his place in the team and lock his spot for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

The last IND vs SA T20I will be played on Friday, December 19 at the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Ahmedabad. India leads the five-match T20I series by a margin of 2-1 and would be eager to seal the series in the