Sri Lanka vs India 2017: Rohit Sharma to fly back home for medical check up

What’s the story?

Team India batsman Rohit Sharma, currently part of India’s Test squad in Sri Lanka, will fly back to Mumbai for a scheduled medical-check up.

"The BCCI medical team confirms that batsman Mr. Rohit Sharma will undergo a scheduled medical check-up, as a follow-up after his recent surgery," the BCCI said in a statement.

In case you didn’t know…

The 30-year-old underwent a thigh surgery in London in November last year after getting injured during the India-New Zealand ODI series. He returned to the game after five months, captaining the Mumbai Indians to their third IPL title in May.

After playing the Champions Trophy, Rohit was rested for the limited-overs series against West Indies, but returned to the Test squad at the expense of Karun Nair for the Sri Lanka tour.

The heart of the matter

Amitabh Choudhary, the Acting Secretary of the BCCI, said that Rohit does not have any health or fitness issues, and will fly to Mumbai at the end of Day 1 of the second Test to assess the recovery of his recent injury. He will rejoin the team the very next day (August 4).

Rohit wasn’t included in the playing XI for the first two Tests. His only contribution till now has been the 38 he scored against the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in the one-off practice game.

What’s next?

Rohit will return to Sri Lanka a day after the medical check-up, with the hope of playing the final Test of the three-match series, set to commence on August 12.

Author’s take

A regular in India’s limited-overs plans, Rohit has still not managed to cement his place in the Test squad, even after playing a decade of international cricket. The road to recovery for Sharma has been a testing one, and he has eased his way into the side, picking and choosing tournaments.

The decision to rest him for the West Indies tour prior to this was termed as ‘a smart move’ by captain Virat Kohli, who had told reporters that the Mumbai-born batsman had had some stiffness in his right knee after the Champions Trophy.

The checkup is expected to be just a routine assessment, and the stylish batsman will be back in the Indian squad soon, although a spot in the playing XI doesn’t seem likely in the near future.