Indian captain Virat Kohli expressed his displeasure on the Rohit Sharma injury saga and said that the lack of clarity on his condition ‘wasn’t ideal’.
“There’s been lack of clarity and we’ve been playing the waiting game on this issue for a while now which is not ideal at all. So it’s been very confusing and there’s been a lot of uncertainty and a lack of clarity around the situation,” said Kohli during a media interaction on the eve of India’s ODI series opener against Australia in Sydney.
Rohit who guided Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL title on 10th November in UAE was struggling with his hamstring in the latter stages of the tournament but played in the last three games. The Indian opener is currently at NCA, working on his recovery along with star India pacer, Ishant Sharma, who also has been ruled out of the first two Test matches in Australia.
“Well, before we had the selection meeting in Dubai, we got a mail two days before that, which said that he’s unavailable for selection. He’s picked up an injury during the IPL and it mentioned that there’s a two-week rest and rehab period,” said Kohli elaborating the whole incident.
Virat also mentioned that he was under the impression that Rohit would be on the flight to Australia with the team and later added that he had no information on why that wasn’t the case.
Source: Twitter (IPL)
“It said that the pros and cons and the implications of the injuries have been explained to him and he understood that. And he was unavailable for selection and that was the information that we got on mail before the selection meeting. After that he played in the IPL so we all thought that he’s going to be on that flight to Australia, which he wasn’t.
“And we had no information on whatsoever reason for why he’s not traveling with us. And after that, the only other information officially we’ve received on mail is that he’s in the NCA and he’s been assessed and he’ll be further assessed on 11th December.”
Speaking on the clarity on the issue, the Indian captain said, “So from the time that the selection meeting happened to the IPL finishing and now when this email came about his assessment in the NCA, there’s been no information.”
He also believes the chances of Rohit and Ishant being fit for the upcoming Test series playing would’ve increased had they, like Wriddhiman Saha, travelled to Australia directly from UAE after the IPL and undergone rehabilitation.
Source: Twitter (BCCI)
“Yeah it definitely would have increased the chances of both of them playing Test matches,” said Kohli.
He further added, “Someone like Saha who had an injury during the IPL is here doing his rehab. So we’re aware of his progress and he’s on the right path to make sure that he’s fit and available in time to play the series.”