BGT: Rohit Sharma to fly to Australia but Perth Test participation remains uncertain – Report

India Test captain Rohit Sharma will fly to Australia with the Indian Test squad while his participation in the first Test in Perth remains uncertain, per the latest report.

“He is travelling, but his participation in the 1st Test is yet not confirmed. Will see what happens next anything in regards to this. His availability is subject to his personal matter," a source close to the information said, as quoted by India Today.

Earlier, several media reports indicated that Rohit could miss any one of the first two Tests Down Under for personal reasons, with the Indian skipper confirming the same in a media statement following the conclusion of the home New Zealand Tests.

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“Right now, I am not too sure whether I’ll be going, but let’s see. Fingers crossed," Rohit said after the Mumbai Test against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, if Rohit remains unavailable for selection for the Perth Test, India could play either KL Rahul or Abhimanyu Easwaran in his place, accompanying Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top; the two contenders, however, failed to leave a mark in the second playing for India A against Australia A in the second unofficial Test in Melbourne.

While KL scored 4 and 10 in two innings in the recently concluded tie that India A lost, the right-handed Easwaran scored just 36 runs across four innings in two contested matches. Should Rohit decide against playing the Perth Test, KL leads the race to replace him in the XI.

Besides, with Dhruv Jurel impressing everyone with his gritty knocks in both innings, including hitting fifties in two outings, chances of him breaking into the Test side grow, if not for the first Test, then surely once during the marquee five-match series.

Six-hour review meeting

Following suffering a maiden Test series whitewash at home against New Zealand, the BCCI alongside the captain Rohit, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar, held a marathon six-hour long review meeting discussing what went wrong, and with the Australian series on the horizon, how can they turn the tables around.

“It was a six-hour marathon meeting which was obviously on the cards after such a debacle. India are going on a tour of Australia and the BCCI would obviously like to ensure that the team is back on track and would like to know how the think-tank (Gambhir-Rohit-Agarkar) are going about it," a senior BCCI source privy to development was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The report also suggested that the BCCI was unhappy with team management’s call to rest Jasprit Bumrah for the final Test at the Wankhede and prepare a rank turner, which eventually cost India.

“Bumrah’s absence was discussed although it was a precautionary move. Opting for a rank turner despite India not faring well on these tracks are some of the issues that came up for discussion," the source concluded.

(With inputs from agencies)