India’s Day 2 of the Kolkata Test began with captain Shubman Gill retiring hurt after suffering a sudden neck spasm while attempting a sweep. The incident came just minutes after India had taken on South Africa’s spinners. 

Day 2 resumed with KL Rahul reaching a personal milestone of 4000 Test runs, becoming the 18th Indian to do so. Sundar, continuing from his effort the previous evening, perished soon at the hands of Simon Harmer after his edge carried cleanly to slip.

Gill, who walked in next, defended his first two balls from Harmer and followed it with a slog sweep over backward square for four. However, as the Indian skipper rose after the sweep, he immediately clutched the left side of his neck, seen in clear discomfort. He removed his helmet, massaged the area, and called for the physio. The jerk from the follow-through appeared to have triggered a stiffness severe enough to restrict his movement. Within moments, Gill was seen walking off slowly, accompanied by the physio.

Gill's injury scare led to Rishabh Pant making his first appearance since the Oval Test. Pant began on a positive note, including a six off Keshav Maharaj. Rahul too kept the scoreboard ticking, and India crossed 100 before the 40th over, trailing by just 53 at that stage. By the 42nd over, India were 126 for 3, and were behind by 32 runs, with Pant and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease.

Meanwhile, Day 1 belonged entirely to India’s bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah’s sensational 5 for 27 dismantled South Africa for just 159, recording the visitors’ second-lowest first-innings score against India. Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj played a supporting hand to Bumrah. Notably, India’s reply wasn’t so smooth. Yashasvi Jaiswal fell early, and the newly promoted No. 3 Washington Sundar had to grind through a difficult final session to ensure India finished at 37 for 1.