India’s cricket captain, Rohit Sharma, is likely to miss the first Test of the five-match series against Australia. On Sunday (November 3), after India lost to New Zealand by 26 runs in the third Test in Mumbai, Rohit said he wasn’t sure if he would go to Australia for the first match, which will be in Perth on November 22.
Last month, it was reported that Rohit would miss the first Test for personal reasons. In his place, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team, and Bengal’s Abhimanyu Easwaran will join Yashasvi Jaiswal as the opening batter.
While talking about his availability for the first Test against Australia, Rohit Sharma said, “Not sure whether I will be going, fingers crossed.”
Bumrah has been the captain of India’s Test team before. He led the team in a Test match against England that was rescheduled and played in Birmingham from July 1 to 5, 2022.
After the first Test in Perth, India will play the second Test in Adelaide from December 6 to 10. The remaining three matches will be held in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
India has won the last four Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, including two series that were played in Australia.
Indian players, who are facing a lot of criticism for their poor performance in the three-match Test series against New Zealand, want to do well in Australia. They aim to win the series for the third time in a row and keep their chances of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final.
After losing three home Tests to New Zealand, India has fallen to the No. 2 spot in the WTC 2023-25 points table. If team India wins four out of the next five matches against Australia, they will secure their place in the WTC final next year.
