Is Rohit Sharma injured? Will he compete in IPL 2020 at some stage? If he has some minor injury, why he hasn’t been included in the Indian team for the tour of Australia which is still more than 5 weeks away? If he is severely injured, why he is still in UAE instead of getting himself treated at National Cricket Academy?
These are the questions doing the rounds between the fans and cricket experts.
InsideSport tried reaching out to BCCI’s selection committee chairman Sunil Joshi, Mumbai Indians team management, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah – but no one is ready to shed a light on why Rohit Sharma is not included in the Indian team for Australia and why with-in two hours of team announcement Mumbai Indians came forward to tweet pictures of Rohit practising?
IPL 2020 MI vs RCB : Rohit Sharma not to be included in the XI for the game against RCB
But InsideSport got some very important piece of information from the Mumbai Indians camp on Tuesday. According to sources, Rohit Sharma will not be playing on Wednesday against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Not only this, Rohit is certain to miss other league games as well for MI.
The source further informed InsideSport that ‘decision on Rohit Sharma’s further participation will only be taken after assessing him for few days during practice’.
ALSO READ: IPL 2020 : CSK CEO’s big declaration, ‘MS Dhoni will lead CSK in IPL 2021
Mumbai Indians skipper had suffered a hamstring injury on October 18 in the game against KXIP and since then he has missed his franchise’s last two matches in the tournament.
MI on Monday posted some photos and a video in which the 33-year-old can be seen practising in the nets and that too without any kind of pain, raising speculation that Rohit will be back soon playing for Mumbai Indians.
4️⃣5️⃣ seconds of RO 4️⃣5️⃣ in full flow!🔥#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #Dream11IPL @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/65ajVQcEKc
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 26, 2020
Just what we love to see! Hitman in action at today’s training 😍#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #Dream11IPL @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/FBYIyhtcOW
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 26, 2020
But it seems, fans will have to wait for some days before the ‘Hitman’ is back in action anytime soon.
Sunil Gavaskar calls for transparency on Rohit Sharma’s injury
Meanwhile such is the state of confusion that former India captain Sunil Gavaskar expressed surprise over photos and video of Rohit practicing for Mumbai Indians despite injury concerns. Gavaskar also demanded transparency and said Indian fans deserve to know more about the opening batsman’s injury and why he has not been included in the squads for the Australia tour.
ALSO READ: IPL 2020: Nothing to change drastically after loss against RR, says Bumrah
“I didn’t see what was shown something about him practicing in the nets for Mumbai Indians. So I don’t know what his injury is. If his injury was serious, he won’t even be padded up. So we’re talking about a tour which is starting in December, the Test matches start around December 17 which is a month and a half away,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports on Monday.
“If he is practicing in the nets for Mumbai Indians, honestly I don’t know what kind of injury it is. I think a little bit of transparency and a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody. The Indian cricket fan deserves to know more than anything else,” he added.