Rohit rested for India A opener in NZ, will fly directly to Australia

Keeping in mind his recent workload, Rohit Sharma was on Tuesday rested for India A's first unofficial Test in New Zealand after being named in the squad originally.

Rohit, who has made a comeback to the Test side, will now leave for Australia with India's T20 squad on Friday.  

"Rohit Sharma has been advised rest by the BCCI Medical Team in consultation with the team management and the All-India Senior Selection Committee. The decision was taken keeping in mind his recent workload," said the BCCI in a statement.

The senior batsman has made the Test team on the back of his stellar performances in limited overs cricket.

He was picked for the four-day game alongside senior players such as Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, Hanuma Vihari, Parthiv Patel and young Prithvi Shaw, who are all part of the India squad for the four-Test series in Australia.      

India A coach Rahul Dravid had pointed out that playing in New Zealand ahead of the Australia tour would provide valuable match time to the senior players.

But unlike the other Australia-bound players present in New Zealand, Rohit captained India in the ODI and T20 series against the West Indies in the absence of Virat Kohli, who too was rested ahead of the important assignment Down Under. 

The first of the three unofficial Test begins in Mount Maunganui from Friday.

The selectors have not named Rohit's replacement and the team will be picked from the 14-member squad. With the seniors playing only the opening game, a separate squad was named for the second and third four-day matches.

Rohit will now have only one red-ball practice game ahead of the first Test beginning December 6 at Adelaide. Before that, he will play the three-match Twenty20 series, starting November 21 at The Gabba.  

India A squad for 1st four-day game against New Zealand A: Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), M Vijay, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rajneesh Gurbani, Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper).