Team India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday admitted that the uncertainty regarding the availability of Rohit Sharma for the Australia tour has been very confusing and not the ideal thing to have before a tour.
This is the first time that Virat Kohli has spoken out on the lack of clarity on Rohit Sharma’s injury. A few days ago, India coach Ravi Shastri had said that for Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma to be in contention for the Test series, both players would have to get on a flight to Australia in ‘another 3-4 days’.
However, Kohli on Thursday suggested that the team was given very little information on the details of the injury and his recovery process.
"Before we had the selection meeting in Dubai, we had got an email two days before that, which said that he is unavailable for selection [as] he has picked an injury during the IPL,” Kohli said at the virtual media briefing on Thursday in Sydney.
"And it mentioned there was a two-week rest and rehab period. The pros and cons and the implications of the injury has been explained to him and he understood that. And he was unavailable for selection.
“That was the information we got on mail before the selection meeting. After that he played in the IPL, so we all thought on that flight to Australia, which he wasn't. And we had no information whatsoever on the reason on why he is not traveling with us," Kohli said.
Rohit and Ishant were not included in initial squad for Australia tour
The two players were also not included in the squad that was announced by the BCCI for the Australia tour. However, BCCI had said that their respective injuries would be monitored and a call will be taken later.
But after that Rohit Sharma played the last 3 matches for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020 as his team lifted the trophy for the fifth time.
However, he was not part of the Indian contingent that flew directly from Dubai to Sydney on November 11. The batsman is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to work on his fitness.
Kohli also informed the media that the team management were recently informed that Rohit would be next "assessed" on December 11 at the NCA, six days before the first Test.
"And after that the only other information officially we have received on mail is that he is in the NCA and he's been assessed and he'll be further assessed on December 11.
“So from the time that the selection meeting happened to the IPL finishing now, when this email came about his assessment at the NCA, there has been no information, there has been lack of clarity.
“We have been playing the waiting game on this issue for a while now, which is not ideal at all. So, yeah, it's been very confusing. There has been a lot of uncertainty and lack of clarity around the situation,” Kohli said.