NEW DELHI: There is no clarity on Rohit Sharma‘s participation in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but the Indian captain, who hasn’t travelled with the team to Perth, is putting in the hard yards in Mumbai.
The 37-year-old has been training and also had a hit at the Reliance Corporate Park (RCP) today. It is reliably learnt that Rohit wants to utilise his time in India so that he is ready for the challenge Down Under. The Indian captain has been using both Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) facilities and RCP for his sessions.
As far as his travel to Australia is concerned, he will only take that call after the birth of his second child.
“There is no clarity yet on his departure. It all depends on how things unfold on the personal front. He is doing what any father would at this stage, which is to stay with his wife and family. But at the same time, he is ensuring to be well-tuned for the Test series and will be batting at every possible opportunity in Mumbai,” says a source aware of developments.
India players left for Perth from Mumbai in two batches on November 10 and November 11 respectively. The likes of Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Washington Sundar travelled with assistant coach Abhishek Nayar on November 10 while the remaining, and head coach Gautam Gambhir, left on November 11.
Star batter Virat Kohli was the first player to reach Perth on Sunday evening. The former captain was spotted at the Mumbai airport with his wife Anushka and two kids late on Saturday. Vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah didn’t travel with the second batch and left on Monday night.
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The Indian team management have already prepared a plan for the opening Test and coach Gambhir confirmed that Bumrah will lead in Rohit’s absence and revealed Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul as the two contenders for the opening slot.
The high-profile series gets underway in Perth on November 22 and culminates with the Sydney Test which starts on January 3. The second Test in Adelaide will be a Day-Night fixture and the visitors will be playing a two-day game in Canberra before that fixture.
