Indian captain Virat Kohli admitted that there is a certain lack of clarity about the availability of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma for the Test matches that will follow the limited-overs series, which start from December 17.
Kohli, himself, will be available for only the first Test match in Adelaide before flying back to India for the birth of his first child.
He also reckoned the chances of Rohit and Ishant Sharma playing in the series would've increased if they, like Wriddhiman Saha, had traveled to Australia from UAE after the IPL and undergone rehabilitation there.
"Yeah, it definitely would have increased the chances of both of them playing Test matches. Someone like Saha who had an injury during the IPL is here doing his rehab. So we're aware of his progress and he's on the right path to make sure that he's fit and available in time to play the series,” Kohli said in a press conference on the eve of the first ODI against Australia.
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"And same would have been the case with Ishant and Rohit as well. It would have given them a chance to get themselves fit and be available for the start of the Test series."
“Right now there's so much uncertainty on whether they're going to be able to make it if they're going to be able to make it at all or not. It definitely would have been very helpful in them getting fit if they were here and doing the rehab just like Saha is with the team to be fit for the Test series," Kohli added.
Both Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma are racing against time to get fit and fly to Australia for the Test series which includes time in quarantine.
The BCCI added both their names to the Test squad, pending full recovery, but head coach Ravi Shastri has already said a few days ago that the two of them need to be on the flight to Australia at the earliest if they are to play in the four-Test series.
"Well, before we had the selection meeting in Dubai, we got a mail two days before that, which said that he's unavailable for selection. He's picked up an injury during the IPL and it mentioned that there are a two-week rest and rehab period," Kohli said.
"It said that the pros and cons and the implications of the injuries have been explained to him and he understood that. And he was unavailable for selection and that was the information that we got by mail before the selection meeting. After that he played in the IPL so we all thought that he's going to be on that flight to Australia, which he wasn't,” Kohli said he had no information on why Rohit didn’t travel to Australia.
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"And we had no information whatsoever on the reason why he's not traveling with us. And after that, the only other information officially we've received by mail is that he's in the NCA and he's been assessed and he'll be further assessed on 11th December.
"So from the time that the selection meeting happened to the IPL finishing and now when this email came about his assessment in the NCA, there's been no information. There's been a lack of clarity and we've been playing the waiting game on this issue for a while now which is not ideal at all. So it's been very confusing and there's been a lot of uncertainty and a lack of clarity around the situation," he said.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
