Rohit Sharma informs BCCI he will miss first Test against Australia; Jasprit Bumrah to lead in Perth: Report

The drama surrounding Rohit Sharma’s participation in the series opener against Australia came to a conclusion on Sunday with the India skipper informing the BCCI of his inability to play the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. The development comes two days after Rohit announced the birth of his second child with wife Ritika Sajdeh, with the ‘Hitman’ telling the board he needed to spend more time with his family before joining his teammates Down Under, according to The Indian Express.

As per the report, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who had been named vice-captain, will lead the visitors at the Optus Stadium where the first Test gets underway on Friday, 22 November. Rohit, meanwhile, will be back in action in the second Test, a day-night game that will take place at the Adelaide Oval starting 6 December.

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Rohit and Ritika, who had married in 2015 and welcomed daughter Samaira into their lives three years later, took to social media to announce the birth of their son on Saturday.

“FAMILY – the one where we are FOUR,” read the text in a graphic shared by Rohit and Ritika on their Instagram accounts on Saturday.

“We were hoping that he (Rohit) will travel but he has informed the BCCI that he can’t go now as he needs some more time. He will be flying to Australia for the pink-ball Test match, the second match, in Adelaide. There is a nine-day gap between the first and second Test matches, so Rohit will be able to be there on time,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying in the report.

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Meanwhile, B Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal were asked to stay back from the India A squad that had played two unofficial Tests against Australia A before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and the latter appears set to be included in India’s squad for the Perth Test.

While Padikkal is expected to fill in for Shubman Gill, who has virtually been ruled out of the first Test after suffering a fracture on his left thumb on Saturday, KL Rahul will likely open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal given his experience as well as the fact that he has batted at that spot across formats, including in red-ball cricket.

Rahul too had an injury scare on Friday after getting struck on the elbow while trying to negotiate a rising delivery from Prasidh Krishna, he was back in the nets on Sunday, much to the team’s relief.

Gill, like Rohit, is be expected to make his first appearance of the series in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval, which will be a day-night affair.

Both Rohit and fellow batting icon Virat Kohli are under pressure to deliver with the bat in the upcoming series, in which the Indian team will be eyeing a third consecutive triumph Down Under after their 2-1 wins in 2018-19 and 2020-21 respectively.

Rohit is also under pressure to deliver as a Test captain after the Indian team suffered a humiliating 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand at home, which has complicated their chances of qualifying for the ICC World Test Championship for the third consecutive time.