India Test captain on the recent Australia tour, trains with Mumbai team at Wankhede Stadium; no confirmation of him playing next week’s Ranji game
India skipper Rohit Sharma during Mumbai’s match simulation exercise at Wankhede yesterday. Pic/PTI
India captain Rohit Sharma, who dropped himself due to poor form against Australia in Sydney recently, had his first post-tour red-ball practice session with the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
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Rohit, 37, who managed just 31 runs in three Tests against the Pat Cummins-led Australian team recently, according to onlookers, batted for more than an hour, pairing up with in-form Mumbai Ranji skipper Ajinkya Rahane as part of a match simulation exercise.
Rohit’s sensible batting
Rohit, who started batting at 9.30 am on a slightly damp pitch, got out just once — on the second or third ball he faced — when pacer Shardul Thakur disturbed his furniture with an away going delivery.
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However, later on, the right-handed batter showcased a determined approach, mixing it with defensive as well as attacking shots while facing right and left-arm pacers, left-arm spinners and off-spinners. He even dispatched an off-spinner’s delivery to the mid-wicket fence with a well-timed reverse sweep.
Test batsman Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Shivam Dube also attended a simulation session along with other Mumbai players, which lasted till 4.30 pm.
Selection on Monday
Mumbai’s senior selection committee led by Sanjay Patil will pick the team on Monday for the upcoming Ranji game against Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to be played at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra-Kurla Complex ground starting on January 23. Though Rohit is likely to attend a few more practice sessions, it is learnt that he is yet to confirm his availability for the J&K game. He last figured in a Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai in 2015-16 (against Uttar Pradesh).
The resumption of red-ball cricket for the 2024-25 season opens up an exciting fare. Defending champions Mumbai are in third place with 22 points in the Elite Group ‘A’. Table-toppers Baroda and J&K have 27 and 23 points respectively.
Mumbai’s last Ranji Trophy match of the current season was against Services in November at Delhi, where Mumbai won by nine wickets.
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