Sydney: India’s senior-most fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the upcoming Test matches against Australia. Giving this information BCCI secretary Jay Shah said Ishant will not be match-fit in time. He also said that Rohit Sharma’s final assessment of his hamstring injury will be done December 11, before taking a call on his inclusion on the Test squad. Earlier Thursday, skipper Virat Kohli had expressed his displeasure over the confusion surrounding Rohit Sharma’s injury.
Close to Thursday midnight, the BCCI issued a short injury update of the two senior players. This came after a fiery online media interaction by Kohli. He made his displeasure clear about lack of communication and clarity on the whole issue.
Decision on Rohit after December 11
“Rohit Sharma had to come back to Mumbai after the IPL to attend to his ailing father. His father is now recuperating well and that has allowed him to travel to the NCA and start his rehabilitation,” Shah said in a release.
Also read: Lack of clarity over Rohit Sharma’s injury harming Indian team: Virat Kohli
“He (Rohit) is presently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA. Mr Rohit Sharma’s next assessment will be conducted December 11. After that BCCI will have clarity on his participation in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia,” Shah added.
It is understood that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly will request CA CEO Nick Hockley to ensure Rohit undergoes soft quarantine. It will allow him to train during the 14day isolation period.
Ishant ruled out
As far as Ishant is concerned, Shah informed that the lanky pacer has recovered from side strain. However, he would take time to attain peak match fitness.
“Ishant has recovered completely from his side strain injury sustained during IPL 2020 in the UAE. While he is building up his workload in order to achieve Test match fitness, Ishant has been ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy,” Shah said.
Natarajan added to ODI squad
In another development, the BCCI added Thursday left-arm seamer T Natarajan to India’s ODI squad. This was done as a cover to the half-fit paceman Navdeep Saini.
According to BCCI press release, Saini had complained of back spasms. It led to the 29-year-old yorker specialist from Tamil Nadu’s inclusion in the 50-over format.
Natarajan has played 15 List A matches so far. He was initially a net bowler accompanying the Indian team. He then made it to the T20 squad after Varun Chakravarthy pulled out and now is a part of ODI squad also.
