With the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League completed and dusted, the Men in Blue are prepping for the upcoming tour of Australia which consists of three ODIs and as several T20Is, followed by four Tests.
Rohit Sharma, who led Mumbai Indian to their record fifth title, will be absent from the squads due to a hamstring injury which he suffered in the IPL. The opener returned to India with the Mumbai Indians group barring the players from the squad who had been chosen for the Australia tour.
It was reported that Rohit went to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to operate on his fitness. In current developments, Rohit has nonetheless not recovered from the injury, which confirmed his absence from the very first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
In the COVID-19 globe, Australia has produced mandatory for players to observe a 14-day quarantine, which shadows Rohit’s presence in the remaining two tests as properly. However, an official supply, as quoted by PTI stated that if Rohit had travelled with the squad, he would have got the possibility to function in the group.
That led to an outrage from netizens who accused the national group head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli of ‘politics’ in the gentleman’s game.
However, renowned sports journalist Boria Majumdar has revealed the ‘real reason’ why Rohit did not travel to Australia with the whole squad. “Rohit came to Mumbai with the Mumbai Indians because his father had Covid. That is the reality which is why he had to go back to Bombay. After that, if he did not want to play the red-ball series, there was no reason for him to travel to the NCA and he could have easily stayed back in Bombay with Ritika and family and enjoyed the fruits of success,” Boria said in a video, adding that “there’s absolutely no reason to say that Rohit did not want to play the red-ball series.”
But, there is no official comment on Rohit’s father from BCCI or from the opener himself.
According to current reports, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has requested Cricket Australia (CA) to loosen up the quarantine rule. This can make way for Rohit and Ishant Sharma, who was also ruled out due to injury.