Image: Gill likely to miss second Test against South Africa / © Awaz The Voice
India and South Africa will be going against each other in the final Test of the series from 22 November. But the update from the Indian camp may not be good for the fans to hear. Shubman Gill, the Indian skipper, is expected to miss the second and most important test match of the series.
In his place, Rishabh Pant will be leading the Indian team in the crucial game. Gill suffered a neck injury in the first Test match and was even hospitalised. Although he is recovering well, there are still concerns over his availability in the second game. Amidst all this, fans have started to showcase their reactions to Gill’s unavailability for the second Test.
During the India tour of England, Shubman Gill started his legacy as the team’s skipper. But he had an altercation with the English opener, Zak Crawley. Both Crawley and Duckett had wasted some time in the final overs of the day, which made Gill frustrated. Against Jasprit Bumrah, Crawley had stepped back to take some time in the game.
This made Shubman Gill frustrated, and he told Crawley to have some courage to play the game. With Gill being unavailable for the second game, fans wonder whether he had forgotten his own words or didn’t learn them this time. A Twitter user reacted to the same by using Gill’s actual words from the England match.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been one of those players who have made it to India A’s team but struggled to make it to the main side. This has also been the reason why fans have started to mention his name in the list of ignored players by the BCCI. This also happened when they got to know about Gill not being able to play the second game.
It also raises questions about who will be a part of the team in place of Shubman Gill. A Twitter user asked this same question, but he also responded the same by saying that it won’t be Ruturaj Gaikwad. Even Gaikwad must be feeling so missed out of the team, despite giving his best across formats.
In an era where fans are focused on watching the T20 leagues and ODI games, there are a few of them who also remember the Test greats of the modern era. With Shubman Gill being unavailable for the team in the second game, fans have started to make assumptions about who could be able to get his place in the team for this match.
But a Twitter user gave one option which has provided a lot of happy moments to the Indian team in the Test format. He uploaded a photo of Ajinkya Rahane, who has also been India’s best stand-in captain, winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Even the picture of Rahane was enough to remind fans of India’s dominance at a time in the Test format.
Some reactions have been funny, while others have even made the fans think it is an honest reaction. But a Twitter user may have gone the third way, which is the assumption through his reactions. Since it is almost confirmed that Shubman Gill won’t be available for the team, a Twitter user was not happy enough to listen to this news.
He reacted to the same by saying that India will also lose the second game and eventually the series. Following this, he also said that without Shubman Gill, India is just another Hong Kong. Maybe he is unaware of the strength of India’s other batsmen, who could also handle things if Gill is not there.
Test cricket has never been like this before since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There was a time when India was easily dominating not just on Indian pitches but also in the SENA countries. As of now, even the fans are not that keen to watch India play in the home Tests. However, a cricket fan seems to have given the honest reaction of all fans.
He tweeted and made a formal request to the BCCI, asking them to bring back Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to this format by making them take back their retirements. Also, he asked the BCCI to get Mohammed Shami’s comeback in this format, as without these players, it seems that India A is playing against South Africa.
Fans may not be that worried about Shubman Gill’s unavailability, then who could be replacing him in the team? Now, it should be noted that the Indian team’s combination has changed every game, which made the fans run through their minds to be prepared for the possible changes. Ahead of the second Test, they wonder who could make it in his place.
But a Twitter user decided to ask a straightforward question related to the same. He asked who would be making it to the team, will it would be Sai Sudharsan, or will it be another all-rounder. This was a great taunt, as India played the last Test match with three all-rounders, who were Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.
As the South Africa tour of India is going around, one should not forget that The Ashes is all set to begin. Before the series, the English captain, Ben Stokes, was present at a Press Conference, where he also talked about Steve Smith. Stokes sang the praises of the Australian skipper for the first match, talking about his form.
But the fans may not have liked Stokes thinking that Steve Smith is a good guy. He reacted by saying that one is a cheater while the other is the legendary Stokesy. With this, he has also targeted the Australian captain, remembering the sandpaper gate scandal due to which he suffered a suspension.
Yesterday, the Indian team finally made its way to Guwahati for the second Test. When they had arrived, a video was posted on the social media handles, showing the fans a glimpse of the team’s arrival. While the majority of the fans were happy watching the team together, some of them were not that excited.
A Twitter user reacted to the video by saying Who cares about Test cricket. With this, he posted a video of Virat Kohli in the white jersey. He has shown the last time when the majority of the Indian fans used to give their time to watch the test matches of the Indian team.
India’s record at the home tests has not been good lately. And this has troubled the fans a lot, making them wonder whether they should watch India play in the home games or not. When the video of Team India’s arrival for the second Test was posted, all of the players looked high in confident.
It looks like the team is heading to the next game with the aim of a dominant win. But a Twitter user had given a hilarious reaction to the same, by saying that the team is now getting ready to lose another Test match. This was not just a reaction. It was a taunt to India’s record in home games over the last year.
While the Indian team was on its way to Guwahati, the players had a new jersey on them. This was the Indian team’s new travel jersey, which was used for the very first time. Several fans also think that the video of the team arriving in Guwahati was just to let the fans know about the new Travel Jersey.
The design of this jersey may be good to some fans, but others have a totally different reaction. One Twitter user reacted to the new jersey by saying that the players do not look like a cricketer, they look more like a hospital patient while wearing the same. The designer of the Indian team was totally unharmed in this reaction.