In-form batsman Rohit Sharma, diagnosed with a serious tendon injury in the upper part of the right leg, has been virtually ruled out of the five-Test series against England.
The 29-year-old may have to undergo surgery in England should further investigations advise so, but at a vital phase of his career when the Mumbai middle order batsman gave sufficient hints of finding his own space in Test match cricket, his absence from a seminal home series has to be regarded as a blow to India’s campaign against Alastair Cook-led England team.
On Wednesday at the Cricket Centre here, the BCCI’s senior National selection committee chaired by M.S.K. Prasad consulted coach Anil Kumble, conferred with captain Virat Kohli on video conference and pinned their faith on Baroda’s Hardik Pandya for the crucial all-rounder’s berth in the Test squad.
Ishant back The committee, also convinced about the chikungunya-affected fast bowler Ishant Sharma’s state of health, following his long spells against Orissa and Karnaraka in the Ranji Trophy, reinstated him in the team. It also retained Haryana all-rounder Jayant Yadav and Karnataka middle-order batsman Karun Nair.
Jayant was the replacement for Ishant for the second Test against New Zealand, while Karun came in for Shikhar Dhawan for the third Test.
The absence of any clear information after the final one-dayer against New Zealand at Visakhapatnam, where Rohit damaged a considerably heavier lower limb of his body and did not field, had raised doubts about his fitness.
There were questions marks against openers K.L. Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but the severity of Rohit’s injury was not known until Prasad explained it in dramatic fashion.
Since making a spectacular debut against the West Indies in November 2013, Rohit curbed his natural instincts and made scores of 35, 68 not out, 82 , 51 not out and 42 against New Zealand while batting at No. 6. Rohit’s misfortune could open up a chance for Karun or Pandya and the team’s think tank will mull hard before choosing the eleven for the first Test at Rajkot.
Prasad, who appeared genuinely disappointed at Rohit’s troubles, said “unfortunately we have all seen on TV that Rohit Sharma is badly injured. There is scope for surgical intervention. He is going to be assessed, and if required he might have to undergo a surgery.
“In case he doesn’t require a surgery, it could be six to eight weeks; if it is required it could be more. Dhawan has started his rehabilitation at the NCA and K.L. Rahul is not available for the first couple of Test matches as per the physio report.’’
On Bhuvneshwar’s omission The selection committee is clear that anyone wanting to make a comeback to the team must prove his fitness by playing a competitive match. Touching upon Bhuvneshwar not being picked, Prasad explained: “He is just recovering and as far as the fitness report is concerned, he is available for selection. But we feel that whenever a player (wants to) come back, he should play at least a game, a Ranji Trophy game, so that we can assess him in terms of match fitness.”
Prasad also said that his committee is looking towards rotation of players. “Apart from injury management, we are looking at the workload management and that is where the rotation policy comes in. We have quite a few players ready right now.
“If you look at it, we are not struggling; in case somebody is unfit, there is a ready-made answer. If you look at domestic cricket, we have quite a few players who are doing really well. There is a lot of cricket to come and in case there is an injury, which is inevitable, we have backups.”
Addressing his first press conference as chairman of the selection committee, Prasad said: “One thing I want to make it very clear is that we are thinking 10 times before picking a player. And if we pick a player, he should be given due chances.
“Even if the regular openers (Rahul and Dhawan) had returned we would have still given preference to Gautam Gambhir because we have considered him and he should be given a fair chance.’’
The Team for first two Tests: Virat Kohli (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), R. Ashwin, Wridhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav.
