Rohit Sharma lands in Perth before Adelaide Test; set to join India squad soon

In a great news for Team India, regular captain Rohit Sharma has landed in Perth and will join the squad soon. Rohit had not joined the squad initially before the first Test to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.

He had already indicated a month before that he would miss the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah is leading India in the first Test at Perth against Australia.

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Rohit Sharma lands in Perth for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Rohit Sharma has landed in Perth and has also joined the Indian squad. It is also likely that he went to the Indian dressing room in the last session of Day 3. His arrival is a big boost to India, who are already in a commanding position at Perth.

Rohit has arrived in Perth and maybe go to dressing room straight to ground before post Tea session begins.

— Vimal कुमार (@Vimalwa) November 24, 2024

Rohit is likely to start training soon to get ready for the second Test match against Australia in Adelaide. Before the second Test, he is also likely to feature in the warm-up fixture against the Prime Minister's XI. This warm-up will be a pink-ball fixture.

Rohit Sharma likely to lead India in Adelaide

Rohit will take back the reigns of captaincy from Jasprit Bumrah and will return as captain in Adelaide. The second Test match in Adelaide is the only pink-ball Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and is likely to pose a significant challenge to the Indian players, who haven't played much with the ball recently.

The last time India played a pink-ball Test in Australia, they were shot out for a record-low score of 36 in their second innings. The Men in Blue were in a dominating position in the match but lost the plot to be all out for a low score. As a result, they lost the match as well.

It makes the upcoming pink-ball Test an important one for India. They will look not to repeat the same mistakes this time and claim an upper hand over the home team. Rohit Sharma's return will boost India's confidence.

Will KL Rahul be dropped from the Adelaide Test XI?

But Rohit's return also brings with it the selection dilemma for India. In his absence, KL Rahul was moved up the order to open the innings. Rahul performed admirably well across both innings at Perth while the other opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed his fourth Test hundred.

With Rahul performing, he is unlikely to be dropped from the team but can be moved down the order to accommodate Rohit Sharma at the top. Rahul scored 26 and 77 across both the innings of the match and looked like one of the most technically correct batters for India during the match.

Rahul could be moved down to No. 6 which means Dhruv Jurel, who had two poor outings in the match, could be dropped. This move will allow Rohit Sharma to bat at his usual spot in Test cricket.