Jadeja, Gill may miss South Africa series because of injury.

Injuries to several players has prompted the BCCI senior selection committee to delay naming the squad for the tour of South Africa. understands that at least four players – Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shubman Gill and Ishant Sharma – are doubtful for the trip as they will take some months to be completely fit.

Left-arm spin has been India’s strength of late, especially at home, but with Jadeja and Patel unfit, selectors may not have a viable back-up option in South Africa. Jadeja has a ligament tear while Patel has a stress fracture. In any case, Ravichandran Ashwin is expected to be the lead spinner and there is rarely a need to play more than one specialist tweaker in the Rainbow Nation.

Jadeja missed the second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai where Patel had a decent showing with bat and ball. A source in the cricket board informed that Jadeja’s ligament tear will take months to heal and if he undergoes surgery, he will only get fit before the Indian Premier League next year.