IND v AUS 2020: 'He was never going to play the white-ball series,' - Ravi Shastri on Rohit Sharma's absence from ODI and T20 squads

A series between India and Australia is always considered to be a high-voltage competition, full of emotions, and some controversies. And one such issue that was being widely discussed on social media after the announcement of India's T20I and ODI squads was Rohit Sharma's exclusion from the limited-overs setup.

When BCCI announced the squads, Rohit Sharma's name was omitted from all three formats. The BCCI had laconically said that they planned to "continue to monitor the progress" of Rohit Sharma, who was reportedly suffering from a hamstring injury.

NEWS - Four additional bowlers - Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel and T. Natarajan - will travel with the Indian contingent.The BCCI Medical Team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma. #AUSvIND

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 26, 2020

The ambiguity in the statement prompted calls for transparency from all sides in the Indian cricket fraternity. The issue further worsened when Rohit Sharma featuring for the Mumbai Indians in the last few games of IPL 2020, including the final.

Even though the opener was later added to the Test squad, it was only on 21st November that Rohit Sharma cleared the air around the issue. The star opener explained that there was still some work to do with respect to his hamstring, and it would have been difficult to manage the load.

Recently, Ravi Shastri, team India's head coach spoke on how Rohit Sharma was probably not in the scheme of things for the limited-overs leg of the India v Australia series.

"He was never going to play the white-ball series, they were just looking to see how long he needed the rest because you can't afford to be resting for too long," Shastri said on Rohit Sharma exclusion, speaking to ABC Sport.

Ravi Shastri hints that Rohit Sharma still might not play the Tests

The wait is over. @cheteshwar1 is back in the nets and is back to doing what he loves the most. Bowlers be prepared for a long workout. #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/uAKEBE9PQf

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 19, 2020

Shastri has also dropped a little bomb by alluding that Rohit Shama and Ishant Sharma's chances of playing the Test series are still up in the air.

"He's going through some tests at the NCA and they're obviously going to decide [for] how long he needs to take a break," Shastri said of Rohit Sharma. "But things could get difficult if he's asked to wait for too long, [because] then you're talking of the quarantine again, which might make it really tough for even him to come just in time for the Test series."

The Test matches will start only on 17th December, but a pink-ball warm up game will also be played on 11th December. For Rohit Sharma to play that game after serving his 14-day quarantine period, he will need to reach Australia by November 266th or 27th.

The Indian team members landed in Australia earlier this month and have begun preparations for what would be the year's most exhilarating bilateral series. Virat Kohli's India will vie against the Australians at their home starting 27th November with the first ODI of the three-match series.