Rohit Sharma will miss the first Test in Perth due to birth of his second child.
In interesting news, India captain Rohit Sharma is set to join the squad in Australia on November 24, during the first Test of the BGT 2024, which begins on November 22 in Perth. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead the side in the Perth Test.
The Indian team left for Australia in three batches between November 9 and 11 but Rohit stayed back for the birth of his second child. Rohit was blessed with a baby boy on November 15.
Meanwhile, the report from ESPNCricinfo also stated that Rohit Sharma will participate in India’s 2-day pink-ball warm-up game that will be played from November 30 in Canberra, ahead of the second Test in Adelaide that is a day-night affair and will begin on December 6.
The two-day pink-ball fixture against the Prime Minister's XI at the Manuka Oval could serve as valuable preparation for the India captain. His return is already a huge boost for the visitors, who will have to rely on some fringe players for the Perth Test.
The last two Prime Minister's XI fixtures were four-day matches featuring West Indies in 2022 and Pakistan in 2023. But the India game has been trimmed to just two days.
Rohit Sharma is coming into the Australia Test series on the back of just 91 runs in the home Test series against New Zealand, at an average of 15.16 with one fifty.
India's last day-night Test was against Sri Lanka at Bengaluru in March 2022, and they won by 238 runs. When India played a day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval, they crumbled for 36 in their second innings.