On Saturday morning, a day after Rohit Sharma and his wife Ritika Sajdeh welcomed their second child, a baby boy, a story was doing the rounds that the India captain would be off to Australia by November 18 and would be available for the Perth Test.
A source in the know, however, told RevSportz that the Indian team was yet to receive any update on Rohit’s arrival Down Under. By evening, reports emerged that the skipper has decided to skip the series opener to spend some time with his family. He would be available from the second Test in Adelaide instead.
There’s no official word yet from the BCCI and the dilemma remains over Rohit’s availability in the series opener. With the first Test starting on November 22, the uncertainty might affect India’s preparation.
Purely from a cricketing point of view, it feels like Perth is a bridge too far for Rohit. Hypothetically, even if he decides to take a flight to Australia in the next couple of days, he won’t have the adequate preparation time to get into the Test match groove in completely different conditions. He had a poor series against New Zealand and turning up undercooked against Australia could be a recipe for disaster. As former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar told Star Sports: “Rohit Sharma will not be there in the first (Test). For him, it will be a bit of a break (from scrutiny). Because of his absence, the team will be a bit lighter.”
Ideally, Rohit should target the second Test that commences from December 6. It’s a pink-ball Test and before that India will play a tour game against PM-XI in Canberra. Playing that game would be a good preparation for Rohit before getting into Test mode.
The problem is that, without Rohit India are devoid of a leader in a tough away series that has arrived on the heels of a home series whitewash against the Kiwis. Sourav Ganguly mentioned this point in an interview with RevSportz. “If I was in his position, he should be playing the first Test,” said the former India captain. “It’s a big series and the match is still a week away. He will not go to Australia after this. He is a fantastic captain. India need his leadership.”
To make matters worse, Shubman Gill has suffered a thumb fracture that rules him out of the first Test. It is learnt that the team management has decided to play Dhruv Jurel in Perth, on the back of his impressive performances (80 and 68) with the bat against Australia A. But in all likelihood, Jurel will come at No. 6. So, what will be India’s top order in the absence of Rohit and Gill?
If KL Rahul pairs up with Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top, the team will need someone to bat at No. 3. Virat Kohli could be an option in that position, but the ex-India skipper has been immensely successful (six hundreds) in Australia batting at No. 4. Taking him out of his comfort zone might not augur well, especially at a time when Kohli is going through a lean patch.
But more than rejigging the batting positions, India need a leader at the moment. Ajinkya Rahane performed the role wonderfully well in 2020-21, after Kohli left the tour due to personal reasons. The onus now is on head coach Gautam Gambhir to rise to the challenge.