Rohit Sharma won't travel with the Indian team to Australia ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Reports
Indian captain Rohit Sharma will reportedly not travel to Australia with the team ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The opening batter is set to become a father for the second time soon. However, there is still no confirmation over whether or not he will be available for the opening Test in Perth.
The Indian team is leaving for Australia in two batches. The first set of players left for the country on Sunday, November 10. Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, and Yashasvi Jaiswal were spotted at the Mumbai airport, while Shubman Gill shared a pre-departure picture with some of his teammates on his official Instagram handle.
The second batch of players is scheduled to leave for Australia on Monday. Head coach Gautam Gambhir will interact with the media in a pre-departure press conference. However, as per a report in The Times of India, Rohit is unlikely to travel with the team on Monday, November 11.
"Yes, Rohit is not travelling with the team, but don't rule him out of the first Test as yet. He may end up flying to Australia later third week, closer to the first Test," TOI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
The first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test between India and Australia will be played at the Optus Stadium in Perth starting November 22. India head to Australia on the back of a shocking 3-0 Test series loss at home to New Zealand.
Vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in Perth in case Rohit is unavailable
If Rohit is unavailable for the opening Test against Australia in Perth, vice-captain and pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead India. Former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting has backed Bumrah to do a good job in Perth in case Rohit cannot make it due to personal reasons. He told ICC:
"Yeah, that (captaincy) is probably the hardest thing for him. Guys like that tend to thrive on the extra pressure and the responsibility. He's always been the leader of the attack for a long time anyway. Whether that's red ball, T20 or ODIs, he's the main man."
"In that Indian team, there's a lot of experience around him. And it's really important, I think, that you use the experience around you even when you are the captain, and just ask the appropriate questions at the right time..." Ponting added.
India need to beat Australia by a 4-0 margin to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final without depending on other results. They had beaten the Aussies by a 2-1 margin during their last two visits Down Under - in 2018-19 and 2020-21.