Rohit Sharma at Wankhede. (Source: Star Sports)
Photo : Twitter
Rohit Sharma rejoined the Mumbai Ranji team on Tuesday in a bid to regain his batting form after a difficult tour of Australia. He participated in a practice session at the Wankhede Stadium before the tournament begins on January 23rd.
Rohit, who managed just 31 runs across three Tests during his time Down Under, was forced to drop himself from the series-deciding fifth and final Test in Sydney due to his poor form.
With his future as a red-ball cricketer hanging in the balance, Rohit attended a review meeting on Sunday to assess the team's performance.
He was joined by head coach Gautam Gambhir and BCCI's new secretary Devajit Saikia during the deliberations.
Mumbai will play Jammu and Kashmir at the MCA-BKC ground when the Ranji Trophy resumes on January 23. The match is significant for advancing to the knockout stages.
Whether Rohit will play in Mumbai's next match remains to be seen. He last played for Mumbai way back in 2015 against Uttar Pradesh.
Incidentally, it was reportedly Rohit's decision to join the Mumbai team.
"Rohit has expressed his interest in training with the Mumbai Ranji team. He has approached the head coach Omkar Salavi and made enquiries about when they are going to train for the next Ranji match, which is still 10 days away," a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Earlier, Rohit handed over the leadership duties to Jasprit Bumrah, sparking widespread speculations about his future.
But he cleared the air by saying, "I have not retired. I stood down, that is what I would say. Basically the chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple. I am not able to score runs, there is no form, it is an important match and we need a player with form."
"As it is, in our batting, the form of the boys is not that good. So you cannot carry many out of form players in the team. This simple thing was going on in my mind. I am not going anywhere," he had added.
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