Rohit Sharma will not be part of the Indian contingent flying from Dubai to Sydney on Wednesday for the Australia tour. Sharma, who led the Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL title on Tuesday, will return home to fully recover from the hamstring injury he sustained during the IPL.
The Indian selectors initially left Rohit out of the three teams for the Australian tour, which will be played between November 27 and January 19 and will comprise three ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests. This was because Rohit had suffered a torn hamstring in his left leg on October 18 while completing a race against Kings XI Punjab. He sat out of the next four Mumbai matches before replaying his last league match, followed by Qualifier 1 and the IPL final, in which he was the top scorer.
On November 9, the eve of the IPL final, the BCCI said in a press release that Rohit would appear in the test series, but was resting for the limited leg of the Australian tour to “regain physical form. “. Rohit is now expected to undergo his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and, once he passes a fitness test, head to Australia ahead of the test series, which starts in Adelaide on December 17.
Kohli unlikely to return to Australia after paternity leave
It is also understood that the captain of India Virat Kohli will not rejoin the test team in the new year once he returns to India on paternity leave after the first test. Kohli and her partner Anushka Sharma are expecting their first child in early January, so she asked the BCCI to release him after the Adelaide Trial, which will be the day and night trial of the Indian maiden overseas and is scheduled from December 17 to 21.
According to the Australian government travel guidelines imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a person entering the country must undergo a 14-day quarantine. So the India team management has accepted that Kohli will not have enough time to be ready for the last two Border-Gavaskar Trophy events, which are scheduled in Sydney (January 7-11) and Brisbane (January 15-19). ).
Kohli, however, would be part of the Indian contingent, made up of the three squadrons together with their families, flying on Wednesday night on a BCCI-organized charter flight to Sydney from Dubai. The Indian tour group will begin the tour with a two-week quarantine, during which they will be allowed to train subject to the approval of the test protocols implemented by Cricket Australia in coordination with the local government. It is understood that the Indian party will start training from November 14 in Sydney.
Before the test series, the Indians will play two warm-up matches, the second of them under lights, before the pink ball test. The first warm-up game between India A and Australia A, scheduled to take place on December 6-8, clashes with the T20I series, so only the test specialists will participate, along with some of the net throwers. However, the entire test team will be available for the second preparation game against Australia A, scheduled for December 11-13.
Saha flying to Australia
Wriddhiman Saha, who injured his hamstrings in both legs while playing an IPL match for Sunrisers Hyderabad, will be part of the touring group that will fly on Wednesday. Saha is one of the two goalkeepers appointed by the selectors for the Test series along with Rishabh Pant.
It is understood that fast bowler Ishant Sharma will travel separately to Australia ahead of the test series once he is declared fully fit by the NCA, where he is in rehab after suffering an abdominal muscle tear during the IPL. Recently, the NCA, which is led by former India captain Rahul Dravid, had communicated to BCCI that Ishant would be ready to start bowling from November 18, after which he will need to prove his physical condition to the match.
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