India vs Australia: Rohit, Ishant ruled out of first two Tests

Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma have been ruled out of the first two Tests of India's upcoming Border-Gavaskar series in Australia.

Ishant, who has regained match fitness, will have to travel to Australia almost immediately if he wants to be considered for the third Test as he needs at least four weeks of training, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo.

On reaching Australia, Ishant will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine, which means, the fast bowler can begin training only after two weeks. Having been asked to practice for at least four weeks, Ishant can only be prepared for the third Test, starting on Jan. 7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

The Cricinfo report has also stated that Rohit, who recently played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in the UAE, will take a while to return to full fitness. He can be cleared to travel to Australia only in the second week of December. The Mumbai batsman will need two weeks of further rehabilitation after which a final assessment can be made.

According to a BCCI official, Rohit would have had a better chance of playing the Test series had he flown directly to Australia from the UAE with the other members of the Indian team. Even if Rohit flew to Australia by Dec. 8, he would have to serve a 14-day quarantine that would keep him out of training until at least Dec. 22.

After suffering an abdominal muscle tear, Ishant withdrew from the IPL at the early stage and regained full fitness at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Cricinfo has reported that there are still concerns about the pacer's fitness, which can be resolved once Ishant begins to bowl a minimum of 20 overs in a day.

"If there is a T20 game and he needs to just bowl four overs, Ishant is good to go immediately, but for him to get back to Test-match fitness, he needs four weeks of proper bowling still," a BCCI source was quoted by Cricinfo, as saying.

If Rohit is eventually ruled out of the Test series, the selectors have added his fellow Mumbai batter Shreyas Iyer – who is in India's limited-overs squad – as a reserve batsman in the Test squad. Having played 54 First-Class games, Iyer has amassed 4,592 runs at an average of 52.18, including 12 centuries and 23 fifties. He received his maiden Test call-up during India's home series against Australia in 2016-17 as a cover for injured Virat Kohli. But, Iyer is yet to make his debut in the red-ball format.

Meanwhile, in the bowling department, India have the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, and Mohammad Siraj in the Test squad. The Indian camp also includes Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, and T Natarajan, who are in the white-ball squad along with two reserve bowlers, Karthik Tyagi and Ishan Porel.

India and Australia are set to play three ODIs, three T20Is, and four Tests. India's Down Under tour is set to kickstart on Nov. 27 with the opening ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).