Rohit Sharma in or unavailable for Perth Test?

Rohit Sharma (Pic: File Pic)

India's head coach Gautam Gambhir was not in a position to say whether skipper Rohit Sharma will be available for the first Test against Australia starting at Perth on November 22.

Gambhir addressed the media during the team's pre-departure press conference at a city hotel on Monday morning. Usually, the team captain accompanies the head coach in such media briefings but Rohit was not present.

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There is talk that Rohit will not be travelling with the team to Australia due to personal reasons and may not play the Perth Test. When asked whether Rohit is available for the first Test, Gambhir said: "At the moment, there's no confirmation. We will let you know what the situation will be. Hopefully, he will be available. But you'll get to know everything at the start of the series."

When asked about the options on who will open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the absence of Rohit at Perth, the former India opener said there are options available. "We have [Abhimanyu] Easwaran and KL [Rahul], so we will take a call closer to the first Test if Rohit is not available. It's not that we don't have options, there are quite a few options. Once we are closer to the game, we will try and play the best XI that can do the job for us," Gambhir remarked.