Having led Mumbai Indians (MI) to their fifth IPL title with a fantastic knock in the final against Delhi Capitals (DC), Rohit Sharma is now set to shift focus to the Test series against Australia.
However, Rohit will hit the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and complete rehabilitation before travelling Down Under as he injured his left hamstring during the league.
"He will return with the team to Mumbai and then head to the NCA as is the rule with contracted India players who are recovering from any injury. You can expect him to spend Diwali at home and then head to Bengaluru. He is an integral part of the Test team and his job will be all the more crucial as Virat Kohli is set to skip the last three Tests," sources in the know of developments told ANI.
The battle for the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy will kick-start with the pink-ball affair at the Adelaide Oval on December 17. Melbourne will host the second Test from December 26 while the third and fourth Tests will be played in Sydney Cricket Ground (January 7-11) and Brisbane's Gabba (January 15-19), respectively.
According to the report, the last set of Indian players who will be travelling to Australia joined the bio-bubble hours after the final between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (November 10).
"The last batch of players came in after the final on Tuesday night. Those who were part of the MI unit did miss out on celebrating the win with the rest of the boys at the team hotel, but they can always celebrate after returning from national duty," the source said.
Coming to the final, DC won the toss and posted 156/7 in 20 overs on the back of captain Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 65 off 50 balls and Rishabh Pant’s 38-ball 56.
Trent Boult was the stand-out bowler for MI, claiming 3 wickets by conceding 30 runs in his four overs.
In reply, Mumbai rode on skipper Rohit Sharma’s dazzling 51-ball 68 to overhaul the target 18.4 overs with 5 wickets in hand.
Commenting on the game, Rohit said that it was a complete team effort that saw MI dominate the tournament from the word go.
"I am quite happy with how things went the whole season. We said at the start that we need the winning habit. We could not have asked for anything more, right on the money from ball 1 and we never looked back. I think a lot of credit goes to the people who worked behind the scenes - often they go unnoticed.
"Our work started long before the IPL started, and we wanted to make sure we filled the gaps in previous seasons. I had to find the balance to get the best out of them. I am not someone who can run behind them with a stick, and it is important to instil confidence in the players. Krunal, Hardik, and Pollard have done their job for a long time, they know their roles. Rahul missed out today, and we need to make sure we put an arm around him and assure him that he did not do anything wrong and that it was a tactical move. We made sure Ishan and Surya had confidence -- just have to let Ishan loose, and Surya is a more matured player."
(With ANI inputs)
