In a major setback for India, star opener and limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma was ruled out from the team’s tour to Australia due to a hamstring injury he suffered during IPL-2020 as the selectors picked a jumbo squad for the trip. The injury puts a question mark over Rohit’s participation in the Mumbai Indians’ remaining games in the tournament.
2020 has been a bad year for Rohit in terms of injuries. In February, the Mumbaikar was ruled out of the New Zealand tour after suffering a calf injury. The trio of Rohit, Ishant Sharma (abdominal muscle tear) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (leg injury) is thus not a part of the touring party. “The BCCI medical team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma,” said a BCCI release.
In the case of Ishant, however, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) has set a ‘deadline’ for him to recover by November 18, after which he needs to train for three to four weeks. In Rohit’s absence, the in-form KL Rahul has been promoted as the vice-captain of the limited overs sides. With the selectors finally running out of patience with Rishabh Pant, who has been dropped from the limited-overs teams, Rahul has been chosen as the first-choice wicket keeper in the shorter formats. In fact, he is the only gloveman in the ODI team, with Sanju Samson being the second option in the T20 side. In a brave move, the selectors have included Tamil Nadu ‘mystery spinner’ Varun Chakravarthy, who took a fiver on Saturday against Delhi Capitals for the Kolkata Knight Riders, in the T20 side.
As expected, with Ishant still recovering from his injury, young pacers Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj, who’ve both impressed with pace and control in the IPL, have found a spot in the Test team.
Unfortunately for him, Suryakumar Yadav continues to be ignored despite producing some sizzling performances for MI this IPL. “Four additional bowlers - Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel and T Natarajan - will travel with the Indian contingent,” said the BCCI release.
