Team India's head coach is flying back to the country a day after India secured a 295-run victory against Australia in the series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It is being reported that the coach left Australia to be home due to a 'family emergency'. He will miss the tour game in Canberra ahead of the Day-Night Test, which is scheduled to be played in Adelaide from December 6. Gambhir, however, will rejoin the team ahead of the second Test.
The Indian team will travel to Canberra on Wednesday, where they will engage in a two-day pink-ball tour game, which starts from Saturday. This will help India prepare for the Day-Night affair as the team look to extend their advantage to 2-0 in the five-match series.
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Earlier, Rohit Sharma missed the opening Test to spend time with family after being blessed with a second child. The Indian skipper did join the squad in between the first Test and was also seen toiling in the nets on Monday. As per reports, the Indian skipper played around 200 deliveries bowled by pacers Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna.
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With Rohit back at the helm, he will take over the captaincy duties from Jasprit Bumrah, who led the side from the front in Perth. Bumrah accounted for a total of eight scalps in both innings combined and decimated the Australian top-order in both essays.
Meanwhile, with Rohit all set to play the Adelaide encounter it'll be interesting to see how the management uses KL Rahul in the line-up. Rahul showed temprament in both the innings and also stitched a 201-run opening stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal. So but with the flexibility Rahul has shown over time it shouldn't come as a surprise if he's asked to bat lower down the order.
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There could be one more change as Shubman Gill, who missed the Perth Test due to an injury on his left thumb, can return to the playing XI. Gill had taken a nasty blow during the intrasquad training match ahead of the Perth encounter. If he does get fit for the second Test, the promising youngster can return at the number 3 slot in place of Devdutt Padikkal.
Padikkal who was asked to stay back from the India A squad failed to make good use of the rare opportunity and was dismissed for a 23-ball duck in the first innings. He then managed 25 off 71 balls in the second innings.
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