Why is Shubman Gill not playing in today's IND vs SA 2025 5th T20I?

Vice-captain Shubman Gill was not named India's playing XI for the fifth and final T20I of the home series against South Africa on Friday, December 19. The match is being played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The ace batter's absence from the lineup puzzled several fans. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav confirmed at the toss that the opening batter missed the game due to a niggle.

The BCCI released an official statement about Gill's injury. He sustained a toe injury during batting practice on the eve of the fourth T20I. The statement read:

"Shubman Gill sustained an impact injury to his right foot while batting in the nets on 16th December in Lucknow. After consulting a specialist and getting treatment with the BCCI medical team, he is improving but will be unavailable for selection for the final T20I in Ahmedabad."

BCCI

@BCCI

𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: Shubman Gill sustained an impact injury to his right foot while batting in the nets on 16th December in Lucknow. After consulting a specialist and getting treatment with the BCCI medical team, he is improving but will be unavailable for selection for the final

Shubman Gill finished with just 32 runs across three innings at a strike rate of 103.22. Meanwhile, India come into the final T20I with a 2-1 lead in the series. The fourth fixture was abandoned without the toss due to excessive fog in Lucknow.

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Sanju Samson replaced Shubman Gill in India's playing XI for IND vs SA 2025 5th T20I

With Shubman Gill out with a niggle, keeper-batter Sanju Samson was added to the playing XI. He will open the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma. It is the first time that the stumper got a chance to play in this series.

South Africa won the toss and elected to field first. Apart from Gill, the hosts made a couple of more changes. Harshit Rana made way for pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, while Washington Sundar came in for Kuldeep Yadav.

Here are the two playing XIs for IND vs SA 2025 5th T20I:

IND: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh

SA: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman