The Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma is eyeing to reach the numero uno position in the Test team rankings after dominating limited-overs cricket. With the team’s focus now shifting to Test cricket, Rohit said that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia would not be an easy opponent for India. India will host Australia for the four-match Test match series in February and March.
After the clean sweep over New Zealand in the three-match ODI series, Rohit Sharma said, “Australia is a quality team and things won’t be easy for us but I am pretty sure we will be up for it (BGT series).”
Rohit Sharma is hoping that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will be available to play the last couple of Tests against Australia. Bumrah, who hasn’t played international cricket since September of last year due to a back injury, isn’t in India’s squad for the first two Tests, but he recently returned to bowling in the National Cricket Academy nets, raising hopes of a return soon.
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After the Indore ODI, as per the quotes in India Today, Rohit Sharma said, “Not too sure about Bumrah, I am hoping he plays the next (last) two Tests (against Australia). We don’t want to take any risks with him as back injuries are always critical. We have a lot of cricket coming back after that also. We are in constant touch with physios and doctors in NCA. The medical team will give him as much time as he wants.”
The India captain was speaking at the post-match press conference after leading India to a 3-0 ODI series sweep over visiting New Zealand. Bumrah was supposed to make his comeback in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, but he was ruled out after being named to the squad. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test Series, which is also part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2022-23, will begin on February 9 in Nagpur.
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The final two Tests are scheduled for the first two weeks of March. The BCCI earlier this month confirmed that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy would be the last of the traditional four-Test series. The BCCI named the squad for the first two Tests against Australia, with Ishan Kishan receiving a maiden call-up and Ravindra Jadeja being named, but his inclusion would be based on his fitness.
