IND vs SA: Why Sanju Samson replaced Shubman Gill in India's XI for Ahmedabad T20I

NEW DELHI: India vice-captain Shubman Gill was not included in India’s playing XI for the fifth and final T20I against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Friday.Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed at the toss that Gill was unavailable due to a "niggle".

Sanju Samson was selected in place of Gill.

"Gill picked up a niggle in Lucknow, so Sanju comes in," Surya said at the toss. Moreover, Bumrah was also included in the XI in place of Harshit Rana, while Washington Sundar was added for Kuldeep Yadav. South African Aiden Markram won the toss and asked India to bat first. Gill had arrived in Ahmedabad with the team despite carrying the injury, which he sustained in the lead-up to the fourth T20I. As TOI reported earlier, he was set to miss Wednesday’s fourth T20I in Lucknow after being hurt in the nets, but the match was abandoned due to poor weather.Earlier, Gill had missed most of the Test series against South Africa because of a neck injury suffered in the series opener in Kolkata, which also ruled him out of the three-match ODI series that followed.India currently lead the five-match series 2-1. Friday’s match will be the team’s last game for the calendar year.India are scheduled to face New Zealand in a three-match ODI and five-match T20I series starting January 11.

India Playing XI for fifth T20I vs South Africa: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh