India's star opener Rohit Sharma and pacer Ishant Sharma will miss the first two Tests against Australia and are also doubtful
New Delhi: India's star opener Rohit Sharma and pacer Ishant Sharma will miss the first two Tests against Australia and are also doubtful for the remaining two after it was conveyed to the BCCI that the duo will require close to a month to be match fit.
The two, who are undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, are already out of contention for the limited-overs leg of the series, which begins with the ODIs on Friday.
Rohit SharmaThey were kept in the Test squad for the series starting on December 17 but tough quarantine rules have made their availability uncertain.
"The NCA has given a report that both Rohit and Ishant will take at least another 3 to 4 weeks to get match fit," a Board source said.
Rohit had stated that his hamstring injury is fine now and he is only working on strength and conditioning to be battle-ready at the NCA.
Ishant, on the other hand, is recovering from a side strain.
Ishant Sharma"Even if they travel now they will have ''hard quarantine'' since they will travel by commercial flight. Hard quarantine means not being able to train during the 14 days like the whole team," the source said.
It is learnt that Shreyas Iyer, who is part of the limited-overs squad, could be asked to stay back as cover for Rohit.
The Indian team, which landed here after the IPL earlier this month on a chartered flight, was allowed to train in quarantine.
