India vs Australia: Ishant Sharma ruled out of Test series, Natarajan added to ODI squad

In a major blow to the Indian cricket team, senior Indian pacer Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the upcoming 4-match Test series against Australia. The development was confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday night through a statement.

“Ishant has recovered completely from his side strain injury sustained during IPL 2020 in the U.A.E. While he’s building up his workload in order to achieve Test match fitness, Mr Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy,” read the BCCI statement.

At the same time, uncapped pacer T Natarajan has been included into India’s ODI squad, a day ahead of the first match of the ODI series against Australia in Sydney. He has been added to the squad as a back-up option after Navdeep Saini complained of back spasm.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added T Natarajan to India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia starting Friday,” read the statement.

“Navdeep Saini complained of back spasm and Natarajan has been added as a back-up,” the statement further read. 

NEWS - T Natarajan added to India’s ODI squad

The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added T Natarajan to India’s squad for three-match ODI series against Australia starting Friday.

Updates on Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma's fitness here - https://t.co/GIX8jgnHvI pic.twitter.com/VuDlKIpRcL

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 26, 2020

 The statement further gave the update on Rohit Sharma’s fitness.

“Rohit Sharma is presently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA. His next assessment will be conducted on December 11th following which the BCCI will have clarity on his participation in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia,” read the BCCI statement.

“Rohit had to come back to Mumbai after the IPL to attend to his ailing father. His father is now recuperating well and that has allowed him to travel to the NCA and start his rehabilitation,” the statement further read.

India’s ODI squad: Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan.