After days of speculation and suspense, India opener Rohit Sharma finally left for Australia in the early hours of Tuesday as he looks to be ready in time to play the third Test match in the four-match series against Australia that gets underway with the day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments said that India’s limited-overs deputy left for Australia via Dubai and is set to keep working on his fitness during his quarantine period.
“He left in the early hours today and is headed to Australia via Dubai,” the source said. Having injured his hamstring during the Indian Premier League in UAE, he was initially left out of the Australia tour before the selectors reassessed his injury status and added him to the squad for the Test series. While the initial thought was that Rohit would travel to Australia with the rest of the squad and continue working on his hamstring with the Indian physios, he headed home to be with his ailing father. The opener headed to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru post-Diwali to undergo rehab with the physios at the NCA.
The physios at the NCA gave him a clean chit on Friday and the BCCI sent out an official release on Saturday saying that while he is ‘clinically fit’ to head to Australia, he will continue to work on his endurance during his quarantine period there. “Team India batsman Rohit Sharma has completed his rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and is now clinically fit. He has been rehabilitating and training at NCA since 19th November following a high-grade left hamstring injury suffered during the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“The NCA medical Team was satisfied with the physical fitness of Sharma after assessing him on different metrics that tested his skills related to batting, fielding, and running between the wickets. Sharma’s physical fitness has been satisfactory, however, he will be required to continue work on his endurance.
“He has been given a detailed programme to follow for the duration of the two weeks he will be quarantined for. He will be reassessed by the Team India medical team post his quarantine to establish his fitness status and a call on his participation in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be taken accordingly,” the BCCI release said. With the third Test set to get underway from January 7, Rohit should be ready to be a part of the game at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
