Rohit Sharma set to miss Perth Test, will join the squad ahead of Second Test in Adelaide

Team India Skipper Rohit Sharma will miss the First Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Rohit Sharma stayed back in India for the birth of his second child and will join the India Squad ahead of the Second Test in Adelaide a day-night match starting on December 4.

Rohit had communicated with BCCI and National Selectors in advance that he might miss the Perth Test. He had left the possibility of last-minute travel open, depending on the timing of the child's birth. Rohit and his wife welcomed their second child on Friday, a week before the first Test, raising the chance that he might travel to Perth. However, Rohit has communicated to BCCI that he will be available to play the two-day pink-ball warm-up game against the Australian Prime Minister's XI before the day-night Test in Adelaide.

Vice Captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma. Bumrah has led India in one Test previously, the fifth Test of their two-part 2021-22 tour of England at Edgbaston, when Rohit had tested positive for Covid-19. India lost that Test match by 7 wickets and the 5-match Series was tied at 2-2 with the first test being drawn at Nottingham.

India will begin their Test series with two key members missing from their top order, with Shubman Gill also set to miss the Perth Test due to a fractured thumb. KL Rahul and the uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran were the top contenders to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal in Rohit's absence, but now there’s a possibility that both might play.