So far, it has been a smooth campaign for India at the Champions Trophy, but ahead of their last group match against New Zealand, they are sweating over the availability of skipper Rohit Sharma.
During their match on Sunday, in the early part of Pakistan’s innings, Rohit was seen struggling with his hamstring after a long chase to the boundary. Later on, he even walked off the field for a brief while with Shubman Gill taking charge.
But Rohit came back and marshalled his troops before opening the batting with Gill in India’s successful chase.
However, as India trained on Wednesday after a two-day break, Rohit was the lone frontline batsman not to get into the nets. Instead, he stayed indoors and later on, was seen working with the strength and conditioning coach and physiotherapist. While he did jog for a while, he wasn’t pushing himself to the full extent.
With India scheduled to play New Zealand and their semifinal on Tuesday after just one day’s gap, the next couple of days could well decide whether Rohit takes the field on Sunday or not. With the team already making the semifinals, they have the option to not risk Rohit against New Zealand. But with Afghanistan beating England, a match India keenly followed at the conclusion of the three-hour nets session, they still don’t know who their opponents in the semifinals will be. They will get a clear idea of whom they will face after the matches on the weekend.
With Rohit’s fitness being a concern, India are looking at Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar as back-ups. Both left-handers trained extensively, alternating between the two nets where spinners and pacers were operating.
However in case Rohit is indeed unavailable for the game, it would be interesting to see who opens alongside Gill. In KL Rahul, they have an opener who can slot in easily at the top, but that would mean disturbing a settled middle order before the knockouts.