Ishant Sharma ruled out of Australia tour, Rohit Sharma faces race against time

Ishant Sharma has been officially ruled out of the four-Test series against Australia starting from December 17 in Adelaide. Ishant Sharma, who sustained an abdominal muscle tear and managed to play only one game in IPL 2020 for Delhi Capitals, was working on regaining full fitness at the NCA. According to a release sent by the BCCI, it read, “Ishant has recovered completely from his side strain injury sustained during IPL 2020 in the U.A.E. While he’s building up his workload in order to achieve Test match fitness, Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”

There were questions on Ishant Sharma whether he would be ready for the rigours of the Test matches after an injury-filled year that saw him miss the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch due to a calf strain. Prior to that, Ishant Sharma was racing against time to be fit for the New Zealand Tests when he suffered an ankle injury playing for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy clash against Vidarbha. Ishant made it in time and took five wickets in the Wellington Test.

In the same release, the BCCI provided an update on Rohit Sharma. The statement read, “He (Rohit Sharma)  is presently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA. Mr Rohit Sharma’s next assessment will be conducted on December 11th following which the BCCI will have clarity on his participation in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.”