When the All-India Selection Committee announced the squads for the tour of Australia last week, there was a surprise omission. Team India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma was not named in either of the T20I, ODI, and Test squads by the selection panel headed by Sunil Joshi. Rohit suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the ongoing IPL.
The BCCI also mentioned that Rohit’s condition will be monitored regularly. In-form KL Rahul has been named as Virat Kohli’s deputy for the Australia tour. Since then, a few experts of the game seems to be annoyed with the decision as MI shared a video of Rohit’s training hours after the Indian squads were announced.
Well, Rohit hasn’t played a game for MI after the injury and Kieron Pollard has captained the side in his absence. Now, in an interview to Hindustan Times, the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has cleared the air on Rohit’s chances of making it to the Indian side for the Australia tour. Ganguly said the selectors will definitely reconsider their stance if Rohit proves his fitness in upcoming days.
“With Rohit, we want him fit for Australia. At some stage if he is fit, I am sure the selectors will rethink his position,” Ganguly told HT.
When asked if Rohit should be advised to skip the remaining IPL so as not to aggravate his injury, Ganguly said: “We haven’t seen him playing.”
Apart from Rohit, there are question marks on the fitness of veteran pacer Ishant Sharma, who too was not picked in the Test squad because of an injury.
If both – Rohit and Ishant – recover in time for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, then they will be added to the Indian Test side, confirmed Ganguly.
“We are monitoring Ishant and Rohit. Ishant is not completely out. He will become a part of the Test series,” he said.
Rohit is currently working on his fitness in the UAE while Ishant is undergoing rehabilitation in India.
Ganguly further said that there is an option of flying the duo later than the rest of the squad to Australia, despite the bio-bubble and quarantine rules. “They can be sent later. There are flights to Australia.”
