- Rohit Sharma won’t play first Test, KL Rahul will open
4 p.m. News Network
Perth. Indian Test team’s regular captain Rohit Sharma will not play in the Perth Test match against Australia and has officially informed the BCCI about it. Indian batsman KL Rahul has recovered from an elbow injury and also participated in the net session on Sunday, indicating that he will open in the first Test match from November 22.
At the same time, in Rohit’s absence, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be handed the captaincy. According to the report, regular captain Rohit, who recently became a father for the second time, will join the team ahead of the second Test in Adelaide as he wants to spend time with his family and newborn baby. Rohit’s wife Ritika had recently given birth to a son, following which there was speculation that Rohit might soon join the Indian team for the first Test. The second match of the five-match Test series between India and Australia will take place in Adelaide from December 6. After Rahul is declared fit, there are high chances that the Indian team management will send Rahul to open the innings along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Rahul’s timely recovery after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the first Test due to injury is a relief news for India. Head coach Gautam Gambhir had also hinted that Rahul could be sent higher up the order if Rohit is left out of the initial Test.
All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy may debut
All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is likely to get his first Test cap for the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy starting in Perth on Friday as the Indian team management is likely to use him as the fourth fast bowler. Expect bounce and carry at Perth’s Optus Stadium. In this situation, Nitish Kumar can prove to be the right choice to strengthen India’s fast bowling department. Apart from Bumrah, the responsibility for India’s fast bowling attack for this Test series falls on Mohammad Siraj, Harshit Rana, Akashdeep and Prasidh Krishna. While fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who returned to the field after a long time, is not part of the Indian team.
