New Delhi, November 17 (IANS). The first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will start from November 22 in Perth. Rohit Sharma will not be a part of the Indian team in this. This news has been in discussion for a long time. At the same time, after the injury of Shubman Gill, the problems of Team India have increased further.
To keep the bench strength strong and to face every challenge, Team India has kept Devdutt Padikkal in Australia for the time being. He will not return home with the India A team on Monday.
According to a Cricbuzz report, the Indian team management has decided to retain the Karnataka batsman as a backup for the senior team after talks with the national selectors.
Padikkal, who recently scored 36, 88, 26 and 1 in the unofficial test against Australia A, has been included with Team India as a batting backup. Although he cannot be included in the senior national team on the basis of these performances alone, the management can also take into account the importance of his experience and familiarity with Australian conditions.
Padikkal, who played his only Test and T20 Internationals against England earlier this year, is being seen as a reliable option.
Shubman Gill is almost certain to be out of the Perth Test due to a fracture in his left thumb. At the same time, captain Rohit Sharma, who is in India after the birth of his second child, is very unlikely to be available for the Perth Test. Additionally, KL Rahul is recovering from an elbow injury, though he joined batting practice at the WACA on Sunday.
At present there is no information about when Rohit Sharma will leave for Australia. Therefore, his playing in the first test looks doubtful. BCCI has no immediate plans to send Mohammed Shami to Australia.
Shami recently returned to competitive cricket after a year. He played the Ranji Trophy match between Bengal and Madhya Pradesh in Indore. However, the team management wants him to get more match practice in domestic cricket before a possible comeback. Shami is likely to represent Bengal in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament starting this week.
–IANS
AMJ/AKJ
