It’s as good as official now that Rohit Sharma will be absent from India’s opening Test against Australia in Perth beginning on Friday.

Although there hasn’t been any official communication on the matter yet from the BCCI, it was learnt that the India captain has informed the Board that he would remain at home following the birth of his second child and will join the squad in Australia before the second Test in Adelaide. Rohit and his wife Ritika welcomed their second child on Friday.

The Adelaide Test, beginning on December 6, is a pink-ball day-night game. In Rohit’s absence, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, also the vice-captain on the tour, is set to lead Team India in Perth.

Rohit’s unavailability in Perth after No.3 batter Shubman Gill was ruled out of the series opener due to a thumb injury makes India’s top order thinner. The team management now has the task of being prudent enough regarding the reinforcements. More so, as the Perth Stadium promises a fair amount of pace, bounce and carry along with some spin too, provided the spinners get their lengths right.

Also, now that both Rohit and Gill are out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener, left-handed top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal has been asked to stay back. Padikkal had featured in both four-day games of India A against Australia A in Mackay and Melbourne.

But whether Padikkal will be a part of India’s batting line-up in Perth is still not certain as Abhimanyu Easwaran too is in the fray and is one of the members of the main squad. Easwaran didn’t get enough runs in the two four-day clashes, but his consistency at the domestic level is still fresh in the team management’s mind. So it does keep him in contention for a debut in Perth.

For Padikkal, the only India A cricketer staying back in Australia, what could work in his favour are the starts he got in the four innings in Mackay and Melbourne with 88 being his highest. He finished with 151 runs against Australia A, averaging 37.75.

Although the conditions were totally different, Padikkal was impressive in the only Test appearance he has made so far earlier in March, against England in Dharamsala.

All said and done, a tricky call awaits Team India when it comes to the toss-up between Easwaran and Padikkal for the first Test.

In the last tour Down Under which India won 2-1 despite missing a bulk of their seniors and regulars owing to injuries, it was the bowlers who played a massive role. Particularly in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, which India won to restore parity after being gunned down for 36 in the series opener in Adelaide. On this occasion as well, India don’t have too many reasons to worry in terms of their bowling, though senior pacer Mohammed Shami won’t be available for the first two Tests at least.

India’s main concern is their batting, which flopped big time in the recent 0-3 drubbing at home to New Zealand. So, to add more depth to India’s batting, seamer all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy could be handed a debut at Perth. The Andhra and Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder enjoys Gautam Gambhir’s confidence in him, with the head coach being effusive in his praise for the youngster during the selection meeting for the Australia tour, Board sources said.

Nitish aside, pacer Harshit Rana could be another choice for Team India as he too is capable of unleashing meaty blows, although he hasn’t had much experience in red-ball cricket so far.

Rahul relief

KL Rahul’s injury during the intra-squad practice game in Perth had added to India’s woes. But the doubts and fears of Rahul missing the first Test were allayed to a fair extent as he batted for about an hour on Sunday morning.

“I got a bad hit on Day I of the (intra-squad) game. I’m feeling good as I batted today (Sunday) and feeling ready for the first game... Happy that I could come here early and get some time to get used to the conditions.

“I have got a lot of time preparing for the series. I’m excited and looking forward to it,” Rahul said in a video posted on the BCCI’s Instagram handle.

“It was just a matter of controlling the pain and giving him some confidence. From the medical point of view, he is absolutely fine,” India’s physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar said.

So will Rahul then open the innings for India alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal? Well, the way things are in the Indian camp at the moment, nothing can be ruled out.