Surprised To See Shubman Gill Hide His Injury: Saba Karim

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim has raised eyebrows on Shubman Gill’s extent of injury in the ongoing England tour. Shubman Gill could miss the entire five-match Test series against England, starting from the fourth of August due to a stress-related injury on his left leg. Saba Karim reckons that the opener should not have travelled to England if he was aware of the injury.

But Shubman Gill looked in no unease during the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton. The right-handed batsman got a couple of promising starts; however, he could not convert it into big scores. Virat Kohli’s men went on to lose the decider by eight wickets against the Kiwis, who were crowned as the inaugural Test champions.

Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal is likely to replace Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner. Agarwal has not played Test cricket for quite a while now and has a compelling average of 45 in the format from 14 Tests. But there also exist rumours of Prithvi Shaw’s inclusion, drafting him from the limited-overs squad for the Sri Lanka series.

It’s very surprising in the first place, how it happened and why it didn’t come up earlier: Saba Karim

Saba Karim stated he felt surprised as Shubman Gill tried to conceal his injury, given he has travelled with the Indian team for a long time. Karim has also been baffled at how it did not come up, considering medical professionals and physios are tracking the players’ fitness. The 53-year old continued endorsing Mayank Agarwal for the opening slot if Gill is out since he has copped unfair treatment.

“I was surprised to see Shubman Gill hide his injury. He has been travelling for a long time with the Indian team. There are physios and other medical staff tracking the fitness of the players. It’s very surprising in the first place, how it happened and why it didn’t come up earlier. Mayank should be given preference. We have been harsh towards Mayank. He was sidelined after just 2-3 failed innings,” Karim said as quoted by News18.com.

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