Less than 24 hours after the IPL final, an extended Team India entourage, sans key batsman Rohit Sharma, boarded a flight to Sydney from Dubai for the tour of Australia, scheduled to begin with the ODI on Nov. 27.
Except for those who featured in Tuesday’s final, all the other members of India’s 31-strong playing crew, including three back-up bowlers selected for the tour, had been moved into a separate bubble in Dubai along with the coaching and support staff. While key personnel from Delhi Capitals joined the group on Wednesday, Rohit was set to return to Mumbai. The Mumbai Indians captain — originally left out of all three India squads after injuring his hamstring in the IPL, before being picked only for the Tests — is expected to travel to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru next week, to be assessed by the BCCI medical team.
If Rohit and Ishant Sharma, who returned to the NCA midway through the IPL, are certified fit, they will join the squad ahead of the Test series. India is scheduled to play three ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests in Australia. It will be India’s first assignment since the home ODI series against South Africa in March, which was abandoned due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
