Rohit, Ishant need to be on flight to Australia in next 4-5 days: Ravi Shastri

Tags: India tour of Australia, 2020-21, Australia, India, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Gurunath Sharma, Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri

Published on: Nov 23, 2020

The Indian cricket team is currently in Australia for a long tour Down Under, which will feature three ODIs as many T20Is and four Tests. However, head coach Ravi Shastri conceded that Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma, both recovering from injuries, will need to reach Australia in the next few days.

Both Rohit and Ishant picked up injuries during IPL 2020. While Rohit missed four matches for Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals pacer Ishant was ruled out very early in the tournament. Both Ishant and Rohit are undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

Speaking to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Shastri said, "He's (Rohit) going through some tests at the NCA. They will decide on when he could be back, but things could get difficult if we have to wait for too long (14-day quarantine in Australia). It could become tough for him to come just before the Test series. Similar is the case with Ishant who's also at the NCA."

"He (Rohit) was never going to play the white-ball leg of the tour, we needed to know how long he needed to rest, but you can't afford a long period of rest. If he's going to play red-ball cricket in the build-up for the Tests (as with Ishant), they need to be on the flight within the next 4-5 days. If one can't, it's going to be tough (selection for the Test)," Shastri further added in the chat.

Earlier, Rohit had told PTI that his hamstring was very much on path to recovery. "Of course, there is still some work that needs to be done on my hamstring,” he he said.

India will kick-off their tour of Australia with the first ODI on November 27 at Sydney. Skipper Virat Kohli will play the first Test at Adelaide, starting from December 17. He will miss the next three Tests to be with wife Anushka Sharma for the birth of their first child.

India created history winning their first-ever Test series in Australia during their previous tour in 2018-19. Cheteshwar Pujara was one of the standout performers for India in that series with 521 runs in four matches at an average of 74.42.

--Renin Wilben

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