Back-Up Captain and Opener Ready for Australia Tour as BCCI Quietly Makes Strategic Move

India captain Rohit Sharma excels in two key leadership traits. He consistently takes responsibility for any shortcomings and steadfastly supports his teammates, especially the younger ones. Renowned for his excellent communication skills, Rohit values giving his players the freedom to express themselves on the field. Following India's back-to-back Test defeats against New Zealand, Rohit demonstrated these qualities during a press conference in Pune, standing by his team and taking ownership of the results.

Press conferences after a defeat are never easy for a captain. It gets doubly difficult if that defeat breaks an 18-series home streak and results in the team's first series loss at home in 12 series. Rohit knew he would have to face tough questions and to his credit, he handled them pretty well. Just like the Bengaluru Test, where he had admitted that it was an error of judgement on his part to win the toss, Rohit accepted that the batters were not up to the mark in both innings of the Pune Test. But he was not ready to find scapegoats.

When grilled about the twin losses that resulted in India losing a Test at home to New Zealand for the first time in 70 years, Rohit reminded that this team has maintained a spotless record at home for 18 series in a row. Therefore, there was no need for a knee-jerk reaction.

"I am not going to react differently," Rohit told reporters. "Look at the games that we have won in India. There are more good things that have happened than bad.

"I don't want to create that environment where people start doubting themselves, taking unnecessary pressure. Of course you will lose a series here and there," he added. "I don't need to open a medical kit and start doing different things. It's important to understand that this team has done some wonderful things in the past."

What these twin losses to New Zealand also means is that India now has to at least four of their remaining six Tests to ensure a smooth passage into the World Test Championship (WTC) final without depending on others. That's easier said than done. Because five of those are in Australia.

There is a high chance that Rohit, India's charismatic leader, will not be available for either the first or the second Test due to personal reasons. The BCCI, while announcing India's 18-man squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Friday, named Rohit captain for all five Tests and did not mention anything about his unavailability for the first half of the series.

On the surface, this looks like a straight rebuttal to the reports that have been doing the starts, but a closer view tells a different story. BCCI did keep its options ready. Bengal man Abhimanyu Easwaran was picked in the squad as the reserve opener after four back-to-back hundreds in Duleep, Irani and Ranji Trophy matches.

The cover is because Rohit may skip one of the earlier Test matches for personal reasons, reported news agency PTI. Shubman Gill and KL Rahul are unlikely to open the batting as they are pretty much settled in their middle-order roles. Therefore, the BCCI made the silent move of keeping Rohit's backup ready. Easwaran will get a Test cap if Rohit misses either of the first two Tests. The right-hander will open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

As far as captaincy is concerned, Jasprit Bumrah will step up. He was named as the vice-captain for the Australia tour.