Rohit Sharma had a moment to cherish on Friday (November 15) after his wife Ritika Sajdeh gave birth to a baby boy. This is Rohit and Ritika’s second child as they are already blessed with a beautiful daughter, Samaira.
Notably, Rohit has not travelled with the rest of India’s squad named for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Earlier, there were several reports of him missing the first Test of the marquee series.
However, the latest development in the form of the birth of his second child might see him join the rest of the squad members just in time before the start of the series in Perth.
Rohit is one of those India players who have prior experience of playing Test cricket in Australia. The India captain has played seven Test matches on Australian soil and aggregated 408 runs at an average of 31.38 with an individual best of 63* coming at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the Boxing Day Test in 2018.
Rohit has struck three fifties in Australia but is still searching for his maiden Test ton. If Rohit arrives before the start of the Perth Test, it will restore a semblance of order in India’s batting line-up.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul copped a blow to his right elbow during India’s centre-wicket match simulation at the WACA in Perth on Friday after he came to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. Therefore, the Indian fans will hope that Rohit is available as soon as possible as there is no clarity about the extent of Rahul’s injury.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 edition:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
Australia squad for the first Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy:
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc
