India captain Rohit Sharma will have a crucial role to play at some stage during the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Australia as he has stayed back home for the the birth of his second child and is likely to miss the opening Test in Perth.
Holders India will defend their BGT title in a five-Test series beginning November 22.
Rohit hasn't been in the best of red-ball form lately, having failed miserably in his last 10 innings, which came against New Zealand (3 Tests) and Bangladesh (2 Tests) on home soil recently.
Rohit aggregated 91 runs against New Zealand and 42 against Bangladesh.
Talking about where the India captain has faltered, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar advised Rohit to exercise caution when it comes to shot-selection early in his innings against the Australian pace battery of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
"At the start, he can be troubled by Mitchell Starc's lengths and lines," Gavaskar said on a Star Sports show. "What happens often with Rohit is that his foot doesn't move as much as it should in the first few overs of the contest, because of which he gets into trouble. But if he can survive the first two-three overs, he can score runs.
"He needs to get the shot-selection right. That's not just for Rohit Sharma, but for any batter," he added.
Gavaskar said Australian conditions demand restraint from batters despite the pitches being good for batting.
"Australian pitches are good for batters, and they use the Kookaburra ball. It doesn't swing or seam much after the first 15 overs...If you show some restraint in the first session, then you can score runs," the 75-year-old former India captain said.
Regarding Rohit's availability for the series opener in Perth, head coach Gautam Gambhir told the media in his pre-departure press conference that there is no clarity yet, and it will be known closer to the start of the match.
Rohit, meanwhile, continues to train in Mumbai.
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