Second Test: Pant or Gill? Indian camp keeps all guessing on captaincy

A new captain, perforce with barely 24 hours to go for a crunch Test match at Guwahati, is not what India would have bargained for under the circumstances. However, they may have to deal with it as vice-captain Rishabh Pant is set to step out in place of Shubman Gill – who is extremely doubtful as India face a challenge to bounce back at the Barsapara Stadium from Saturday to save the series.

The writing had been on the wall ever since Gill was out of the first Test with a severe neck spasm sustained while batting early in his innings last Saturday. While the medical advice has all but ruled him out of the second Test, Gill has decided to push the envelope and travelled with the squad for the short flight on Wednesday - and the team management has decided to maintain the smokescreen after a workout on Thursday morning.

Speaking to the media, India’s batting coach Sitangshu Kotak said: ‘’Gill is definitely recovering really well. Now, the decision will be taken tomorrow evening. Even if he's fully recovered, we have to ensure he doesn’t spasm in the game again.’’

‘’If Shubman would have batted in both the innings in Kolkata, that 30 runs... If he recovers well, he will play. If he feels that he needs time, we have good replacements,’’ Kotak said with Sai Sudarshan’s name prominent in the radar. While Gill did not take part in the team’s first practice session this morning, media reports say he may undergo a fitness test on Friday morning for further assessment.

 This throws open the issue of Indian captaincy up in the air – but a learned guess is that Gautam Gambhir & Co wants to keep the opponents guessing rather than lose a psychological advantage with another day still remaining for the game. Gill, on his part, is very keen to be a part of the second Test as the medical team attending on him has advised the Punjab batter to start neck exercises from today.

There is also a buzz that Gill may be rested for the three-match ODI series against South Africa, which begins in Ranchi on 30th November. He had been playing non-stop cricket since IPL 2025 and during a media interaction in Kolkata, was candid enough to admit that he was ‘’still trying to work out’’ on how to manage the expectations and the mental aspect of shifting between formats.

 In case Gill is rested for the ODIs which should again see the return of the two big guns, Pant would be in line to take up that captaincy as well – unless the selectors want to turn to the seasoned K.L. Rahul, who doubles up as a wicketkeeper. It will be double the responsibility for the free-spirited Pant, who may be no stranger to national captaincy, but it may be the first time he will assume the role in red ball as well as the 50-overs game

The question now uppermost in the Indian fans’ minds is: how good a leader will Pant make should he be thrust with the responsibility to pull one back for India and level the series? It may not be out of context to remember that Pant, who made his Test debut in 2018 and boasted of a better track record overseas as a batter than Gill, was also a captaincy candidate but the latter was preferred. Much to the credit of Gill, he went on to silence the critics by piling up 754 runs in the England series and returning with a 2-2 draw.

Much like the composed Gill, Pant is also a work in progress as captain – though he started earlier between the two when he was named the Delhi Capitals captain in place of an injured Shreyas Iyer in IPL 2023. The keeper-batter had led India in five T20Is before, winning and losing two each and one not producing a result, which translates into a 50% win percentage.

When Pant took over captaincy in Gill’s absence in the Proteas’ second innings at the Eden, many thought he had missed a trick on third day morning by not starting the day with a rampant Jasprit Bumrah from one end. Pant started the day with two left spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, which eased the pressure on Temba Bavuma and Corbin Bosch as their 44-run partnership for the eighth wicket made a huge difference in the end.