The Virat Kohli-captained Indian cricket contingent arrived here on Thursday for a 69-day all-format tour of Australia beginning November 27. But Rohit Sharma, who was added to the Test squad later, has stayed back in India and will join the team later.
Virat Kohli’s men, in their customised PPE kits and masks, had departed from Dubai on Wednesday night after taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Along with the Indian contingent, the Australian players who were part of the IPL, including the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner, have also reached the city.
The players will now undergo mandatory two-weeks quarantine.
The tour will commence with the three ODIs at the Sydney Cricket Ground (November 27, 29) and Manuka Oval, Canberra (December 2). That will be followed by the three-match T20I series at Manuka Oval, Canberra (December 4) and the SCG (December 6, 8).
After that, the teams will participate in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy beginning with the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval from December 17. It will be followed by Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (December 26), the SCG (January 7) and the Gabba (January 15).
There is “zero clarity” on the fitness issue of Rohit Sharma — an automatic starter in the Indian team in all formats of the game — who was controversially dropped initially from all three Indian squads without explanation, says cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar.
Sharma, was, however, later added in the Test team by the national selectors for the four-match series, to be played between December 17 and January 19, after the issue snowballed into a major controversy. He has, however, been “rested” from the ODI and T20 series.
Sharma is said to have a hamstring injury, but so far the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been silent on the nature of his injury even as it has explained for the other injured players.
“There’s zero clarity on the issue of Rohit Sharma’s fitness. I am sure there must a stand of BCCI and similarly that of Rohit. And when people don’t get information then speculation arise. So, I absolutely have no clarity whatsoever what’s going on there,” Manjrekar said while speaking on Pakistani YouTube channel CricCast.
Interestingly, Sharma, who apparently had a hamstring injury, turned out for Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) recently even as he was ignored by the national selection committee. Sharma led MI to the IPL title on Tuesday. The BCCI has given no reason for Sharma’s axing while India coach Ravi Shastri, and former India captains Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir got involved in the controversy as they reacted to the selectors’ decision.