There is still no clarity about Skipper Rohit Sharma's plans to travel to Australia. His wife recently delivered a baby so it is expected that he will leave soon and the exact date is still to be known. Thus it is most likely that he will also miss the series opener and Pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead the side. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has no immediate plans to send Mohammed Shami to Australia.

Mohammed Shami makes a solid comeback to competitive cricket

The Team India Pacer Mohammed Shami made his return to competitive cricket almost after a year, he played a Ranji trophy game between Madhya Pradesh and Bengal in Indore. Pacer scalped four wickets in the first innings and three wickets in the second innings. Eventually, Bengal won the game by 11 runs. Meanwhile, Team Management suggests that Shami should play more domestic games before being included in the team again. This indicates that Shami might play for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, which starts in about a week.

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The India A Team led by Ruturaj Gaikwad is set to return to India in the next 24 hours. However, Devdutt Padikkal will not accompany them as Team India Management has decided to retain the batter for the senior team, which will compete in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia over the next 50 days.

This decision has to be taken due to injuries and the unavailability of two key players. Top Order batter Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the series opener as he fractured his thumb during a simulation match at WACA. Skipper Rohit Sharma, who stayed back in India for the birth of his second child is also unlikely to be available for the First Test. KL Rahul also had an injury concern after being hit on the elbow, however, some good news from the camp is that KL Rahul batted during the Three-Day match simulation at  WACA on Sunday (17 November).

Devdutt Padikkal showed some resilience against Australia A

Padikkal recorded scores of 36, 88, 26, and 1 in his four recent innings against the Australia A team. Although these performances might not normally earn him a place in the senior national team, the management thinks his experience and knowledge of Australian conditions make him a good choice as a backup batter. Padikkal has been featured in the only Test against England this year. He has featured in T20Is as well.