BGT 2024-25: Rohit Sharma joins Indian team in Perth, practices against pink ball

Perth (The Uttam Hindu): India captain Rohit Sharma has joined the team on day 4 of their ongoing first Test against Australia at the Perth Stadium on Monday. The broadcasters’ cameras spotted Rohit sitting in the dressing room and watching day four’s proceedings alongside head coach Gautam Gambhir. Rohit had arrived in Perth on Sunday, and had missed the ongoing match of this Border-Gavaskar Trophy series due to the birth of his second child. Fox Sports also showed that Rohit was practising against the pink ball in nets at Perth during lunch break, with reserve players Navdeep Saini, Yash Dayal, and Mukesh Kumar bowling to him.

India are slated to play a two-day pink-ball tour match against Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on November 30 and December 1 ahead of the day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval happening from December 6-10. "Just during the lunch break here at the nets, we've got captain of India Rohit Sharma, who's just arrived in the country, looking nice and sharp against his fellow countrymen here in the nets. We've got a few of the Indian fast bowlers bowling towards the captain ahead of the pink ball test match starting the 6th of December in Adelaide."

“As we just see there Mukesh Kumar is sending down a nice delivery. But it's great to see the captain here and we're looking forward to seeing him back out on the park here on Australian soil, come a couple of days time,” said former Australia opener David Warner, who had gone down to see Rohit at the nets. In his absence, KL Rahul opened the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal and looked solid in stroke-play and defence while dishing out knocks of 26 and 77 in challenging circumstances at Perth. Rahul also shared a 201-run opening stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made a brilliant 161, as India declared on 487/6 in the second innings.