Rohit Sharma is all set to miss the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test vs Australia in Perth as the Indian captain will be staying back in Mumbai to spend time with his family. Rohit and his wife Ritika welcomed a baby boy on Friday night and he will be available from the second Test.
It is understood that the Indian captain has communicated his decision to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stakeholders today (November 16).
“Yes, Rohit Sharma will not be featuring in the first Test. He wants to spend some more time with his family and the new-born and the Indian cricket board completely respects his decision,” says an official close to developments.
Rohit didn’t travel with the team to Perth and stayed back in Mumbai for the birth of his second child. He didn’t rule himself out of the series opener and was keeping himself ready by training and batting in Mumbai when the rest of the team was sweating it out in Perth.
The Indian skipper was using the Reliance Corporate Park (RCP) and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) facilities for his batting and gym sessions.
Now that Rohit is ruled out of the opener, Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the side and KL Rahul is frontrunner to open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
How long will Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja play?
There was some concern with Rahul when he was hit by a ball on the first day of match simulation but the team management is confident that he should be okay for the match.
In another notable development, Shubman Gill fractured his thumb while fielding and is unlikely to feature in the Perth fixture. The right-hander will stay back in Australia and will be closely monitored by the team’s medical unit.
Indian cricket team 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.
Virat Kohli was the first player to arrive in Perth, on Sunday evening. The former skipper was spotted at the Mumbai airport with wife Anushka and two kids late on Saturday. Vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah didn’t travel with the second batch and left on Monday night.