Guwahati: The ODI team for the South Africa series will be announced soon, and captain Shubman Gill will miss it. But it doesn’t end there. The ODI captain may not play any cricket this year and may be back in action only next year against New Zealand. His neck injury is more serious than it looks, and one understands that it is a nerve injury. He has been given an injection, and according to a report, a copy of which is with TOI, his rehab will start after quite a few days. The team management wants him to be fit as soon as possible, but with the T20 World Cup just around the corner in February-March, they don’t want to aggravate his injury. Hence, it is likely that he will miss the T20Is against South Africa as well and will be back in action in January against New Zealand. Gill is currently in Mumbai, where his fitness will be assessed by the BCCI medical team. It is likely that KL Rahul could be handed the captaincy on a stop-gap basis.Rishabh Pant is also one of the contenders, even though he has not been part of the ODI team for a while now. It will be interesting if the BCCI considers him for the leadership role in white-ball cricket. With Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal set to open, the third opener’s slot will be vacant, and it may not be a bad idea to have Abhishek Sharma in the squad. Meanwhile, with Jasprit Bumrah likely to sit out the ODIs, the selection committee may look to include Akash Deep along with Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh. Bowling coach Morne Morkel worked long and hard with Akash Deep with the white ball on Saturday, where the Bengal bowler seemed to be working on yorkers. It was a good indication that he may find a place in the squad.
