India vs Australia 2024: India head coach Gautam Gambhir flies back home due to ‘personal emergency’, to rejoin…
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has flown back home with his family due to a ‘personal emergency’ and is unlikely to rejoin the squad before the second India vs Australia 2024 Test beginning on December 6 in Adelaide. The Delhi-based Gambhir will skip India’s two-day pink ball warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra starting on November 30.
“He left with his family on early Tuesday morning for India. It is an unavoidable personal emergency. He will be back in Adelaide before the start of the second Test match,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.
COACH GAUTAM GAMBHIR TO FLY BACK HOME FROM AUSTRALIA DUE TO PERSONAL REASONS…!!!!
– He will rejoin Team India in Australia ahead of Pink ball Test Match. (Express Sports). pic.twitter.com/6fEKFZK17u
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) November 26, 2024
The Indian team will leave for Canberra on Wednesday, where it is expected to attend an official reception by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The two-day match will be crucial preparation for the side as the second Test is going to be a day-night game. The pink Kookaburra ball will be used during the clash.
Prime Minister’s XI will be led by all-rounder Jack Edwards and it is a squad full of youngsters, along with a few Test-capped internationals like Scott Boland and Matthew Renshaw. The rules of the game will be decided by the two teams and it is expected that everyone will bat and bowl as it does not have an official status.
Meanwhile, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma started practising in the nets as he joined the team in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) after the birth of his second child. India staged a stunning comeback from a series whitewash against New Zealand at home, defeating Australia by 295 runs in Perth despite being bowled out for a mere 150 runs in their first innings.
Jasprit Bumrah (3/42) and Mohammed Siraj (3/51) led the bowling in the second innings, while Washington Sundar took two wickets, and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana picked one each. Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his eight wickets in the game.