India vs England: Shubman Gill suffers shin injury, will take 2 months to recover - Report

Opening batsman Shubman Gill has reportedly suffered a serious shin injury that could keep him out of action for at least two months.

Gill has sustained a shin stress fracture, which effectively rules him out of the first three Tests of the upcoming five-match Test series between India and England, an unnamed BCCI source has told PTI.

"Shubman has sustained a shin stress fracture, which will keep him out of action for minimum two months, which effectively rules him out of the first three Tests against England in August. It will be a race against time to get him fit for the final two Test matches in September after completing rehabilitation," the source was quoted by PTI, as saying.

The Test series is scheduled to begin on August 4 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The other games will be played at Lord's (Aug 12-16), Headingley (Aug 25-29), Kennington Oval (Sept 2-6), and Old Trafford (Sept 10-14).

It is believed that Gill's injury aggravated during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, which was played last month in Southampton. While Gill only managed scores of 28 and 8, India lost the inaugural WTC final by eight wickets.

"Stress fractures in the shin are not very threatening but time consuming in terms of rest and rehabilitation. If it would have been a shin fracture, then it could have taken more than three months but a shin stress fracture injury normally takes anything between 8 to 10 weeks to heal.

If Gill's replacement, whether it's Mayank (Agarwal) or (KL) Rahul, does well, he might have to sit out and I believe the team management also won't show a lot of desperation in getting him fit for say, the fifth Test," a former India pacer told PTI.

The PTI report has also stated that physio Nitin Patel and strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai will be monitoring Gill's progress in the UK and it is still uncertain if after being officially ruled out of the England series if Gill will stay back or return home for his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru.

Bengal's Abhimanyu Easwaran, who travelled with the Indian team as one of the reserves, is expected to be added to the squad. Moreover, the squad already has the likes of Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul as one of them can open with Rohit Sharma if Gill fails to recover.

Virat Kohli and Co are currently on a break and outside the bio-bubble. The players and support staff have been asked to assemble on July 14 in Durham for preparations for the England series.