Sunil Gavaskar questioned the decision of the selection committee to leave out Rohit Sharma from the Indian squad for the tour of Australia and sought clarity from the selection committee on the matter. Gavaskar, a legendary Indian cricketer and commentator, was left surprised after Rohit was left out from all three squad announced for the Australia tour due to a hamstring niggle. Moments after BCI announced the teams, Mumbai Indians, the IPL franchise Rohit captains, shared two posts showing the hitman in full swing at the training session leaving fans perplexed. Rohit Sharma Out of IPL 2020? Fans Believe Injured Mumbai Indians Captain Won't Take Part in Upcoming Matches Following his Ouster from Indian Squads.

A release from BCCI said: “The BCCI medical team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma,” after both the experienced players were excluded from the Indian squads announced for the 2020-21 tour of Australia. Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the IPL due to a muscle tear. Ishant could also only a couple of games for DC before sitting out due to back pain but was later ruled out of the tournament due to a muscle tear on his ribcage. Rohit has missed the last two matches for Mumbai Indians due to a hamstring niggle. Rishabh Pant Excluded From India’s ODI and T20I Squads for 2020–21 Australia Tour, Fans Express Disappointment Over BCCI’s Selection.

Rohit Sharma Arrives At Practise Sesssion

Fans were, however, left shocked when the BCCI excluded Rohit’s name from all three squads, Test, ODIs and T20Is, for the Australia tour. Two posts shared by the official Twitter account of Mumbai Indians further added to their dismay. In the first post from MI, Rohit can be seen arriving at the practise session while the second post was a video in which the hitman was in full swing and stepped out to hit the bowlers.

Rohit Smashes the Bowlers Around

Gavaskar too was left disappointed by the decision of the selection committee to leave out Rohit Sharma from all the squads. India’s tour of Australia starts on November 27 with the three-match ODI series. It will be followed by a three-match T20I series before the five-match Test series in late December. With the series still a month away, Gavaskar was left surprised with the exclusion.

“If he is practising in the nets for Mumbai Indians, then honestly I don’t know what kind of injury it is. I think a little bit of transparency and a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody. The Indian cricket fan deserves to know more than anything else,” said the legendary cricketer during the Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders post-match show on Star Sports.

"I didn't see what was shown about him practising in the nets for Mumbai Indians. So I don't know what his injury is. If his injury was serious, he won't even be padded up. So we're talking about a tour which is starting in December, the Test matches start around December 17 which is a month and a half away," Sunil Gavaskar added.

He also pointed out to the inclusion of Mayank Agarwal, who like Rohit has missed his team’s last two matches. But was included in all three squads.

"I understand the franchises don't want to give the hand away, they are here to win the game. They don't want to give oppositions any psychological advantage,” he said. “But we are talking about the Indian team. Even Mayank Agarwal has not played. Indian cricket fans, they ought to know, what is happening with two of their key players."

With Rohit absent from all three squads, even Shikhar Dhawan was recalled for the Test and ODI formats. Rohit has been bothered by injuries for quite some time now and even missed India’s tour New Zealand in February-March. He was expected to open the batting in Tests alongside Mayank Agarwal in both New Zealand and Australia but now it remains to be seen if he included once fit and available.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 27, 2020 09:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).