Sydney, Dec 31: Indian batsman Rohit Sharma will miss the final Test against Australia as he is traveling back home to be with his just-born girl and wife Ritika Sajdeh.

Rohit will join the ODI squad on January 8 2019, with the first game starting January 12.

Ritika, who is also Rohit's manager, delivered their first child in Mumbai on Sunday.

Rohit was a part of the Indian XI in both their victorious Tests of the ongoing tour. He was forced to miss the second Test in Perth due to a back injury, but recovered for Melbourne where he scored an unbeaten 63 in the first innings. Overall, he has scores of 37, 1, 63* and 5 in his four innings this tour.

The board has decided against naming a replacement for Rohit. The other options for India in the middle order are Hardik Pandya and Parthiv Patel. Hardik, who had missed more than two months of action due to a back injury, had joined the squad after the second Test. Parthiv has been with the side from the start of the tour as a back-up wicketkeeper.

If Hardik returns, India might also consider playing two spinners if the pitch in Sydney is suitable. In that case, they can slot in R Ashwin, if he is fit, or Kuldeep Yadav.

It's unlikely, but India could also bring back one of their regular openers - KL Rahul or M Vijay - and give Hanuma Vihari, who opened in Melbourne, his middle-order slot again.

The final Test starts in Sydney on January 3. India lead the series 2-1.

Courtesy: www.news18.com

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.