Rohit Sharma confirms availability to join Team India in Perth: 'Ready to represent'

Rohit Sharma is expected to miss the series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, but the Indian captain is scheduled to rendezvous with the rest of his teammates in Perth on Sunday, 24 November – Day 3 of the Test match. Rohit is likely to depart soon to join Team India while they are competing at the Optus Stadium, enhancing his prospects of being fully prepared for the second Test at the Adelaide Oval starting December 6.

The development promises to be a huge boost to India, who will play under the leadership of vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah at the Optus Stadium starting Friday. Rohit decided to stay back in India for the birth of his second child. Last Friday, on 15 November, Rohit became father to a baby boy, with the captain making the announcement official on Saturday. Despite being in a race against time, Rohit was in contention to take the flight to Australia and feature in the 1st Test.

However, as things went on, the murmurs died down, and even though the BCCI did not announce anything officially about Rohit, it became evident that he wouldn't be around for the Perth game. But with plenty of time between the first and second Test, Rohit is a sure shot for the pink-ball day-night Test. In fact, he has already informed the BCCI about his travel plans.

"Rohit is slated to leave from Mumbai on 23rd, and he will be reaching Perth on the 24th. Upon reaching, he will plan it out with the coaching staff on how to go about the preparation for the day-night Test in Adelaide. He is available for the practice game in Canberra" a source close to Hindustan Times said while confirming the development.

India A are scheduled to play a two-day warm-up game against Prime Ministers XI at Canberra's Manuka Oval on November 30. This is India A's second practice game of the tour as they recently played Australia A. KL Rahul was also part of the contest. The only form of practice that the Test squad was part of was a three-day simulation game featuring players from the main squad and the India A squad.

Bumrah, during Thursday's pre-match press conference, briefly touched upon Rohit, but it wasn't about his availability but picking the brains of his India and former Mumbai Indians captain. "I spoke with Rohit earlier. But I got a little bit of clarity on leading the side after coming in here," he said.

Bumrah captained in just one Test previously – against England at Birmingham in 2022 – which India lost.

The series against Australia is easily the biggest assignment of Rohit's captaincy career. He led India to a 2-1 win in 2023 when the Aussies played five Tests across Nagpur, Delhi, Indore and Ahmedabad. India and Australia have faced each other plenty of times since, including the final of last year's WTC and the World Cup, with Rohit's India losing both ICC finals. India got a bit of payback when they sent the Aussies crashing out of the T20 World Cup and eventually won the title, but with the wounds of a whitewash against New Zealand still fresh, nothing less than a series win can redeem Rohit's captaincy career.