Opener Rohit Sharma and pacer Ishant Sharma are all but ruled out of at least the first two Tests of the four-Tests match series against Australia scheduled to begin on December 17 as per a report in ESPNcricinfo. However, their participation in the last two Tests of the series that are scheduled only in January 2021 will depend on how quickly the National Cricket Academy consider them match fit for Test matches and BCCI manages logistics.
Out of the two, Ishant Sharma’s case in more precarious than Rohit’s as the pacer might as well run out of time for the Third Test as well as he will need a workload of four weeks to prepare for a Test match and keeping in mind the quarantine norms being imposed on people entering Australia, he will have to board the flight to Australia in order to spend six weeks before he can claim a place in the playing XI.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma is not very close to the full fitness deemed required to play a Test match and is likely to be cleared to travel down under only in the second week of December and adding the two weeks period of quarantine, he will be able to join the training of the Indian team only after December 22 which will rule him out of all the warm-up games and the first Test.
The Selection Committee had named both Ishant and Rohit under the watchlist of the BCCI medical team and said that a call will be taken on the duo and Rohit was added to the Test squad while Ishant remained on the watchlist. The absence of both Ishant and Rohit along with the return of Virat Kohli will deplete the composition of the India team massively and it will open up holes in all the aspects of the game.
Meanwhile, some unconfirmed media reports have claimed that the team management led by the captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri has asked for the inclusion of right-handed Shreyas Iyer in place of Rohit Sharma in case he misses out. Iyer has a strong record in domestic cricket to stake a claim in the Test squad and his presence in the white-ball squads will boost his chances of selection looking at the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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