India captain Rohit Sharma is set to miss the opening Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. It has been widely speculated for weeks that Rohit would be absent for the Perth Test, as he and his wife, Ritika Sajdeh, are expecting the birth of their second child. After the third and final Test against New Zealand, Rohit had admitted uncertainty about his availability for the first Test of the series Down Under. Now, a report by India Today confirms that Rohit will not travel with the Indian team and will remain in India for the birth of his child.
The Indian squad is traveling to Australia in two batches, with the first batch departing on Sunday night and the second leaving on Monday. According to the report, Rohit Sharma has chosen to stay back in India, as his wife is expected to give birth in the third week of November.
“Rohit Sharma won’t be traveling with the team to Australia. There were suggestions he might travel, but now he isn’t. His wife’s delivery is expected next week,” India Today quoted a source.
In Rohit’s absence, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah is expected to lead the team. Sunil Gavaskar had earlier suggested that Bumrah should captain India for the entire series if Rohit misses the first Test. However, former Australia captain Aaron Finch disagreed with Gavaskar, stating, “I disagree with Sunny on that totally. Rohit Sharma is the captain of the Indian cricket team. If you need to stay at home because your wife’s going to have a baby, that’s such a beautiful moment, and you take all the time you need in that regard,” Finch said on the Around the Wicket show on ESPNcricinfo.
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India now faces a critical situation in their bid to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. After losing 3-0 at home to New Zealand, India needs to win the series in Australia by a 4-0 or 5-0 margin to qualify for the WTC final without relying on other results.
Earlier, PTI reported that Rohit Sharma, along with head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar, participated in a six-hour review meeting with senior officials from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“It was a six-hour marathon meeting, which was expected after such a disappointing result. India are heading on a tour of Australia, and the BCCI wants to ensure the team is back on track and to understand how the think-tank (Gambhir, Rohit, Agarkar) is planning the next steps,” a senior BCCI source told PTI.
