Rohit Sharma likely to miss ODIs and T20I against West Indies at home

Rohit Sharma hasn’t recovered fully from his shoulder injury and is set to miss the limited overs leg of the West Indies series

Rohit Sharma is likely to miss the ODI series and only T20I against West Indies in order to fully recover from the multiple injuries he sustained in England.

The Indian batsman suffered a broken finger and a shoulder injury during the ODI series in England, resulting which he had to miss the rest of the series, and was also ruled out of Champions League T20 in India.

ESPNcricinfo informs that Rohit’s finger has healed but the shoulder injury could take around three more weeks to completely heal. The Mumbai batsman is currently in Bangalore at the National Cricket Academy, undergoing rehabilitation under BCCI’s physios.

Rohit’s place as an opener was taken up by Ajinkya Rahane who went on to score his maiden ODI hundred in the series, at Birmingham, while Test opener Murali Vijay was called in as his replacement.

India’s squads for five ODIs and only T20I against West Indies will be announced by BCCI on October 4. A three-Test series will follow the limited overs leg of the tour, where Rohit is likely to make a comeback.

Considering the importance of Rohit in the squad which will be touring Australia at the end of this year for a full fledged tour, followed by the World Cup in February-March 2015, the selectors understand the need to not rush his comeback into the team.

After two practice matches in Mumbai starting tomorrow, the five ODIs are scheduled from October 8-22. The Test series starts on October 30.

If he’s fit, Rohit will need to prove match fitness before he’s selected for the Tests against West Indies. He could either make his comeback in the Duleep Trophy semifinal (if West Zone qualify) beginning October 22, or play the practice match scheduled between Indian Board President’s XI and West Indians, starting October 25.

Rohit’s absence is good news for West Indies against whom the Mumbai batsman has scored prolifically both home and away. In 19 innings overall, Rohit averages 54.86 against the Caribbean side, with 9 half-centuries to his name.

Full schedule of West Indies tour of India 2014.