Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma walked out for the toss against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sharjah on Tuesday, his first outing since the Indian Premier League match against Kings XI Punjab on October 18.
Rohit has reportedly been nursing a hamstring injury that seemingly led to his exclusion from the Australia-bound India squads. The move had created controversy and there was little in terms of official communication from BCCI or Mumbai Indians. The franchise had said on October 23, during the toss of MI’s next match, that he suffered a left hamstring strain.
But in the team’s final group stage match ahead of the playoffs, Rohit returned to captain the defending champions. It is worth noting MI are assured of finishing No 1 on the table and take on Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 1.
At the toss Murali Kartik asked Rohit if “everything was fit and fine” to which the Indian opener replied, “looks like that.”
Rohit was dismissed for four as his comeback did not last long after David Warner asked MI to bat first.
Also read: Indian fan deserves to know: Sunil Gavaskar called for transparency regarding Rohit Sharma’s injury
The tour of Australia, which comprises three T20Is, three ODIs and four Tests, is scheduled to start on November 27.
Incidentally, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was quoted as saying earlier in the day that the board will do everything possible to get an “asset like Rohit” back in the park as that’s their job but said that he wanted the cricketer to be cautious.
“Rohit is injured at the moment. Otherwise, why would we leave out a player like him? He is the vice-captain of the national (limited-overs) team,” Ganguly had told PTI.
“We will have to assess him. I don’t know (when he can come back). He hasn’t played so far since the time he has got injured. We want him to recover. It’s the BCCI’s job to get their best players on the park. If he recovers, he plays,” said the former captain.
When asked about the videos put out by Mumbai Indians where Rohit is seen batting at the nets, Ganguly struck a note of caution for the senior player.
“Yeah, you don’t want him to get injured again. He has a hamstring *tear and it will get ruptured again. It will then take longer for him to come back. But yes, there are people working with him.”
(With PTI inputs)
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