BCCI ISSUES CLARIFICATION OVER ROHIT SHARMA AND ISHANT SHARMA'S CHANCES IN AUSTRALIA SERIES  

Amid reports of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma joining Team India for the Test series against Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued a clarification saying the duo was never part of the squad. 

Meanwhile, for the replacement of captain Kohli for the last three Tests, Shreyas Iyer has emerged as the No. 1 candidate.

“Rohit and Ishant were anyways not part of the squad. An 18-member team was announced for the four Tests. Now that Virat (Kohli) is returning, we’re hoping Shreyas Iyer will stay back for the series”, BCCI was quoted as saying by the Times of India (ToI).

“But the problem is that there’s a 14-day mandatory state quarantine in Australia. Even if he is allowed to travel on the 12th, how will he fly? There are no commercial flights. And even if he manages to fly, he has to undergo the two-week solitary quarantine. When will he be available, subject to fitness. We all knew he was never going to fly,” TOI quoted a source as saying. 

Currently, Rohit and Ishant are nursing their injuries at the National Cricket Academy since the completion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while a 32-member team is in Australia preparing for the series.

Earlier there were reports that Rohit was in line to head directly from UAE to Australia but that plan changed. Days after this confusion, the BCCI, has issued a clarification saying that was never a part of the plan as neither Rohit nor Ishant made it to India's squad for the series. 

It is to be noted that the developments in the BCCI reportedly said, “Rohit was expected to board the flight with the rest of the team on November 12. But he chose not to and instead headed to the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Nobody in the BCCI knows who asked Rohit to head to the NCA. Was it his own decision? also, onus is now on the NCA to take a call."

“Whatever the confusion, it has dented the team’s preparations. Virat has to return because it’s personal and very important. Rohit had done the same on the previous Test (tour) of Australia. It’s unfortunate that the team will suffer for lack of communication. So if anybody has been trying to spread misinformation, it’s really sad," the BCCI source added. 

Looking into Ishant's case, the BCCI confirmed that he was sent to the NCA after a call by director Rahul Dravid. “Ishant will require close to four weeks to be fit and another three to four weeks to train before he can retain match-fitness”, Dravid had told the BCCI.