Indian national T20I cricket team vice-captain Shubman Gill failed in his comeback to international cricket as he was dismissed for a low score by Proteas right-arm pacer Lungi Ngidi.
Team India and Team South Africa face off in the opening match of the T20I series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9.
Shubman Gill was dismissed on the third ball of the match
Gill suffered a neck injury early in India’s 2025 tour of South Africa. He injured his neck during the first Test of the series in Kolkata and missed the subsequent red-ball match in Guwahati.
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Then, the Indian ODI captain was ruled out of the three 50-over matches against the South Africa national cricket team as he continued his rehabilitation program at the BCCI Center of Excellence.
Just recently, he received clearance from BCCI doctors and he made his return to competitive cricket in the first T20I match of the series against the Proteas.
Gill came into the match under pressure to deliver, with several players waiting in the wings, and he failed miserably with the bat.
The right-handed batsman smashed a four in the first over, but fell to Lungi Ngidi on the third ball of the same over.
Ngidi delivered a length on middle and leg to Gill, who came down the track to smash the ball at mid-off, but he failed to make a good connection and was caught by Marco Jansen.
He managed to score just 4 runs from 2 balls before making a long return to cover and facing brutal line-out trolling for yet another failure in T20I cricket.
Here’s how fans reacted to Shubman Gill’s Flop Show:
Shubhman Gill’s downfall continues
– Rohitnation (@Yatharth_6609) December 9, 2025
Shubman Gill is no longer suitable for T20i.#INDvSA #ShubmanGill
– Mahesh Mahala 🇮🇳 (@maheshkumar_045) December 9, 2025
Talented players like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson are warming up the bench just so the parchi-powered Shubman Gill can get into the XI. The man averages 25 in T20Is, but he still gets a VIP pass for the team. pic.twitter.com/9XeYeRUVpQ
– Srijan (@LegendDhonii) December 9, 2025
The team selection was delayed because the selectors knew that if Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal were given regular chances, they would surpass Shubman Gill.
God watches everything. pic.twitter.com/IxzvrBiY9X
– Selfless⁴⁵ (@SelflessCricket) December 9, 2025
Parchi Gill left in the second ball 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 this fraud is playing on Sanju Samson 😭
– Honest CSK Fan (@AnanthuP10144) December 9, 2025
Shubham Gill was dismissed after hitting the first ball for 4.
4(2)
Strike rate of 200.
What an improvement in strike rate 😁.#INDvSA pic.twitter.com/htQMgOu4yZ– Retrorires (@karan_kuma12510) December 9, 2025
The totally unworthy player Shubman Gill is eliminated 4(2) 😭🤣🤡❤️🔥 Justice for Sanju Samson 🤬💔🇮🇳 #ShubmanGill #SanjuSamson #INDvSA
– Dr Deepak Jain (@Deepakjain1827) December 9, 2025
Shubman Gill deserves to be in the T20I team bro…trust me bro… pic.twitter.com/e6n9yJslXp
-Rishi (@7_rishiii_22) December 9, 2025
Only this clueless management can have Shubhman Gill as the opener for India in the T20I…insane…@BCCI #INDvSA
– Param (@param22twit) December 9, 2025
Shubman Gill asked to play like Virat Kohli in T20I cricket
In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan suggested Shubman Gill to play like Virat Kohli in T20I cricket and stay in a good mental state.
“I want to see the mental state of Shubman Gill in T20 cricket. It is important that Gill does not bat like Abhishek Sharma and other explosive hitters. He should bat according to the situation and team demand because he is that kind of player. In all the years I have watched Virat Kohli play T20 cricket, Gill can also base his game like that and move forward,” Irfan Pathan said.
“You see, there will be big matches where Abhishek Sharma will try to go big and get eliminated early. So, there you need stability, and Shubman Gill can provide that for you. But it is important that Shubman Gill is not confused. If he is confused, then it will be a big problem for him. He is not Abhishek Sharma, he is not Suryakumar Yadav, he is not a 360-degree player, he is not not MS Dhoni. He is not the kind of player who can hit a big six right off the bat,” he added.
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