(Reuters) -India captain Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the second and final test against South Africa with a neck injury and Rishabh Pant will lead in his absence, the team said on Friday.
Gill retired hurt in the first innings of the opening test in Kolkata and did not bat in the second as South Africa beat India inside three days at Eden Gardens.
The top-order batter travelled to Guwahati after being discharged from hospital in Kolkata, but was not deemed fit for what will be the first-ever test match at Barsapara Stadium.
"Unfortunately, he was not fully fit to feature in the second test and will head to Mumbai for further assessment of his injury," the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said in a statement on the eve of the match.
"Rishabh Pant will lead the team in the second test in Gill's absence."
India's batting line-up included six left-handers in Kolkata where South Africa off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed a match haul of eight wickets.
It may prompt the hosts to pick right-handed batter Nitish Kumar Reddy ahead of Sai Sudharsan as Gill's replacement, but stand-in skipper Pant declined to reveal the playing eleven.
"See, we have taken that in consideration ... but we're going to announce it tomorrow," Pant said.
"The person who's going to play, he already knows he's going to play."
Pant said he was happy to lead the side, but did not want it to distract him from trying to help India level the series.
"I'm really proud that BCCI has given me this opportunity," he said. "Whenever you are leading your country is the proudest moment, especially in test cricket."
"At the same time, I don't want to think too much about it. I don't want to take that undue pressure of captaincy in my mind. I just want to keep things simple."
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford and Thomas Derpinghaus)
