NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli is the first India batter to reach Australia as the former India captain landed in Perth on Sunday evening. Kohli travelled before the first batch of players, who left from Mumbai on November 10.
“Virat Kohli left before the two batches and has already reached Perth. One batch of players is already on their way and the second batch leaves today,” says a well-placed source.
Kohli was spotted at the Mumbai airport on Saturday night with his wife Anushka and two kids. The star batter obliged fans with selfies and autographs before making his way into the airport.
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Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar and Yashasvi Jaiswal were the players who left in the first batch on Sunday and took a connecting flight, via Singapore, to Perth. Assistant coach Abhishek Nayar was also spotted with the young guns who boarded the flight.
The remaining players and members of the support staff will be leaving for Australia on November 11 and coach Gautam Gambhir addressed the media before the departure. Captain Rohit Sharma will not be travelling with the side and coach Gambhir said that a call on his participation will be taken close to the first Test in Perth from November 22.
“There is no confirmation on Rohit as of now, hopefully he will play. We will let you know before the series starts,” said Gambhir.
On his replacement at top of the order, the coach revealed Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul as the two candidates.
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“We have Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul in the squad so we will play the best XI and take the call before the first Test,” added Gambhir.
Jasprit Bumrah is vice-captain of the squad and Gambhir said he would lead the side if Rohit is unable to play the opening Test.
“Bumrah is vice captain; if Rohit is not available, he is going to be lead in Perth,” said.
India’s squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar
Travelling reserves: Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar
