Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said that Rohit Sharma should travel to Australia for the first Test in Perth considering the team really needs him. The current Indian captain is all but confirmed to miss the opening Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as he wants to spend some time with his family as he and his wife Ritika Sajdeh recently welcomed their second child, a baby boy.

However, Rohit Sharma and Ritika Sajdeh welcomed a baby boy on Friday and Ganguly said that if he was in the position of Rohit, he would have actually travelled to Australia for the Perth Test as well. He also added that the upcoming series will be the 37-year-old’s last tour Down Under.

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“I hope Rohit Sharma goes very soon, because the team needs leadership. I believe his wife has delivered a baby boy yesterday night so I am sure he can leave. He can leave as early as possible and if I was in his position, he should be playing the Perth Test,” Ganguly told RevSportz. “The match is a week away. Because it is a big series, he will not go to Australia after this, he is a fantastic captain. India needs his leadership to start with,” the former India captain added.

Sourav Ganguly also shared that Rohit Sharma was not ready to become the Test captain when Virat Kohli decided to quit after the series against South Africa in January 2022. And, Ganguly said that he had to convince Rohit to take up the captaincy in the longest format as well.

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“He wasn’t because he was captaining the other formats. So, it was a lot of workload. I don’t believe in workload. Test captain of India is going to be Test captain. I told him that don’t finish your career not being Test captain, I am not surprised to see what he has achieved,” concluded Sourav Ganguly.