Australia vs India 2018/19: Rohit Sharma Likely To Head Home To Attend Birth Of First Child

India have suffered yet another blow in their ongoing Test series against Australia. Their star batsman Rohit Sharma is set to fly to India soon to be with wife Ritika who is expecting their first child this week. Consequently, Rohit’s participation in the third Test is in doubts.

The right-handed batsman, who returned to Test team for the ongoing series, did not play the Perth Test after jarring his lower back while fielding in the Adelaide Test and is undergoing treatment. Prior to that, he had failed to deliver with the bat in his comeback Test. In the first innings, he had scored 37 before falling for a duck in the second. But fortunately, it did not cost India much as the visitors won the Test by 31 runs.

In another setback for India, they have lost the services of their opener Prithvi Shaw for the remainder of the series. Shaw had injured his ankle during the tour game and was expected to get fit in time and play a part in the series.

Uncapped Mayank Agarwal has replaced him in the team. Agarwal was in the team for the home series against Windies but was surprisingly dropped for the ongoing series.

Meanwhile, the selectors have also picked allrounder Hardik Pandya. The allrounder, who has not played for India since injuring his back in the Asia Cup, recently returned to action during the Ranji Trophy game. He picked up five wickets and scored a fifty for Baroda against Mumbai.

Coming to the series, Australia thrashed India by 146 runs to level the four-match series. Batting first, Australia piled up 326 before bowling out India for 283 to take a 43-run lead. In the second innings, the hosts scored 243 to set India a target of 287. India, however, never looked in contention to chase down the total. They were eventually all out for just 140 in the first session of the final day.