Vijay Hazare Trophy: Why Shubman Gill isn't playing for Punjab against Sikkim in VHT 2025-26?

In a shocking development, Shubman Gill dropped from the Punjab playing XI in their Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 clash against Sikkim at the Jaipuria Vidyalaya Ground in Jaipur on Saturday. Having been out of action for quite some time due to injuries, Gill was about to return to action for Punjab in the VHT.

However, to everyone's surprise, Gill's name was on the list of benched players for the match. Although there has been no official update on Gill's absence from the playing XI, a Sportstar report suggests the Indian Test and ODI captain might have missed the game due to food poisoning.

Gill is going through a tough phase in his career. The stylish right-hander first suffered a neck spasm during the first Test against South Africa, which kept him out of the remainder of the Test series and the ODI series against the Proteas.

He returned for India in the T20Is but could play only the first three matches before being ruled out of the final two games due to a foot injury. To add more to the misery, Gill was dropped from India's squad going into the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 on home soil.