Rohit Sharma Joins Mumbai Ranji Team Practice
Rohit Sharma joined Mumbai’s camp for preparations for the second section of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, commencing on January 23. The squad had a two-hour session in the center wicket at Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday and is expected to train through the week leading up to their sixth round home fixture against Jammu and Kashmir.
It is not sure if the India Test and ODI captain would play in the match or not. However, the news that he trained with the side and reportedly in consultation with head coach Omkar Salvi would suggest that he could possibly be on board for at least one of the two remaining fixtures. The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) will be announcing the squad later this week.
Rohit’s return to join his first-class team to train coincides with a great deal of debate surrounding his Test future. Rohit, at 37, was clear that he was still not done, clearly stating his willingness to continue in red ball cricket, although he stepped aside from India’s XI for the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney earlier this month.
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Just 31 runs came from five innings in three Tests on tour in Australia. Prior to that, he averaged 13.30 over ten innings against Bangladesh and New Zealand throughout the 2023-24 home season, where he led India to a stunning 3-0 loss to New Zealand, marking the first time India had been whitewashed at-home in a series with three or more matches.
After the SCG Test, India head coach Gautam Gambhir had focused on the need for Test players to be playing first-class competition as much as possible. He also refused to speculate about Rohit Sharma’s and Virat Kohli’s Test futures, with both veterans having been well below their best recently.
On what he thought of a long-term roadmap for the red-ball team and if it was time to give it to youngsters, Gambhir had said, “Look, it’s too early to talk about it. The series has just got over. I think we still have five more months to plan where we want to get towards. But it’s not the right moment for me to talk about that. Where are we going to be after five months?
“A lot of things change in sport. Form changes. People change. The attitude changes. Everything changes in sports. And all of us know that five months is a long time. So we will see before the [England] series what will happen. But whatever will happen, it will happen in the best interest of Indian cricket.”
Mumbai, the defending champions of the Ranji Trophy, are set for the knockouts. Currently, they are third in the Group A followed by Jammu and Kashmir by a single point, gaining three wins in five matches.
