Rohit Sharma's Ranji Trophy comeback after nine years could last for just one match. He is set to miss Mumbai's next clash against Meghalaya starting from January 30 alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer. The trio featured in the previous round of the Elite Group A match against Jammu and Kashmir which Mumbai lost by five wickets at the Sharad Pawar Academy Ground in BKC.
Rohit, Jaiswal and Iyer all are part of India's ODI squad for the upcoming series against England starting on February 6 and most likely, the squad will assemble for the series on February 2 or 3. It would be a quick turnaround for the players to report with the next round of Ranji Trophy matches ending on February 2.
Having said that, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are set to play for their respective state teams Delhi and Karnataka after missing the previous round of matches due to minor injuries. Rishabh Pant is also likely to skip the last round of Ranji Trophy clash for Delhi against Railways while there is no update on Ravindra Jadeja who picked up 10 wickets for Saurashtra in the previous game.
All these players will be playing ODI cricket from February 6 until the end of the ICC Champions Trophy and this is the reason most of them will be missing red-ball cricket over the next few days. The fact that the star India players are indeed playing domestic cricket is due to the BCCI's recent mandate to do so.
Coming back to Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is yet to officially announce the squad and confirm the development regarding his absence. With the upcoming clash being the must-win for Ajinkya Rahane-led side, it remains to be seen if the defending champions will be able to put up a good show.