‘Out-of-form’ Rohit Sharma to train with Mumbai Ranji team

'Expressed interest' in training with the team and is likely to turn up for the side's practice session at the MCA-BKC ground on Tuesday

Mumbai: Close on the heels of India’s demoralising Test series defeat in Australia, captain Rohit Sharma has “expressed interest” in training with the Mumbai Ranji team and is likely to turn up for the side’s practice session at the MCA-BKC ground here on Tuesday.

Rohit, who managed just 31 runs across three Tests in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under before “opting out” of the series-decider in Sydney, was part of a meeting that was held on Sunday to review the team’s performance along with head coach Gautam Gambhir and BCCI’s new secretary Devajit Saikia.

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“Rohit has expressed his interest in training with the Mumbai Ranji team. He 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 said on conditions of anonymity.

Rohit is scheduled to appear at a promotional event here around noon on Tuesday. Mumbai will play Jammu and Kashmir at the MCA-BKC ground when the Ranji Trophy resumes on January 23, and the match holds significance as far as advancing to the knockouts is concerned.

It remains to be seen whether Rohit plays in Mumbai’s next match but as of now, he is certain to show up for training on Tuesday. The MCA source said that Rohit, who last played for Mumbai way back in 2015 against Uttar Pradesh, was yet to confirm his availability for the match.

There is also some time left before the Mumbai selectors convene to pick the squad for the next few matches. A series of poor scores, including 3, 9, 10, 3, 6, for an average of 10.93 in Australia saw him opt out of the last Test at the SCG.

However, on the second day of that match in Sydney, the senior batter firmly dismissed rumours of an impending retirement during an interaction with the official broadcaster, saying he was “not going anywhere” and cited his poor form as the reason for “standing down” from the Test.

Rohit handed over the leadership duties to Jasprit Bumrah, sparking widespread speculations about his future. “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,” Rohit had said.