Ind vs Aus: Ishant Sharma ruled out of Test series, Rohit's fitness to be assessed on December 11th

India pace ace Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the Test series, which begins next month. In a late night media release on Thursday.

Ishant Sharma was ruled out of the Indian Premier League after playing just one game for Delhi Capitals.

India pace ace Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the Test series, which begins next month. In a late night media release on Thursday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed that even though Ishant has completely recovered from his side strain injury, which he sustained during the IPL, he is building up his workload in order to achieve Test match fitness.

"Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy," the BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.

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Also, the Board stated that Rohit Sharma - who is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA - will have an assessment on December 11, based on which there will be clarity on his participation in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"He (Rohit) is presently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA. Rohit Sharma’s next assessment will be conducted on December 11 following which the BCCI will have clarity on his participation in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia," Shah stated.

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Even if Rohit clears the fitness hurdle on December 11, it needs to be seen whether he can board the flight to Australia and be available for the first Test begins on December 17. As of now, anyone visiting Australia need to be under mandatory 14-day quarantine. But top officials at Cricket Australia have told Sportstar that it has requested its federal government to relax the mandatory 14-day quarantine period so that Rohit can take part in the forthcoming four-match Test series.

Earlier in the day, India captain Virat Kohli was disappointed with the lack of clarity regarding the Rohit injury-management issue. Ahead of the first ODI against Australia in Sydney, the Indian captain said the handling of the matter was “confusing”, and that both Rohit and Ishant could have recovered in Australia with Wriddhiman Saha.
 

But the BCCI stated: "Rohit had to come back to Mumbai after the IPL to attend to his ailing father. His father is now recuperating well and that has allowed him to travel to the NCA and start his rehabilitation."

Interestingly, Rohit, who led Mumbai Indians to its fifth IPL triumph days after being ruled of the limited overs’ leg in Australia due to a supposed hamstring tear, made no mention of his father’s ailment in an interview to PTI .