Rohit begins fitness training at NCA

Rohit is not part of India’s limited overs squad for the Australia tour and selectors included him in the revised Test squad after he played for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the later stages of IPL 2020. Though Rohit said that he is absolutely fine, the BCCI felt that he needs more time to recover from a hamstring injury which he suffered during IPL.

Rohit’s fitness has become even more crucial as regular skipper Virat Kohli won’t be available after the first Test in Adelaide. On Wednesday, senior pacer Ishant Sharma, who is also doing his injury rehab at the NCA, bowled full tilt under the supervision of chief selector Sunil Joshi and NCA head Rahul Dravid.

Both Ishant and Rohit will fly together to Australia and undergo a 14-day quarantine before joining the India team.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who has not played competitive cricket since March, had an extensive net session in Sydney on Thursday and looked comfortable facing the fast bowlers.

Pujara batted both at the side nets and centre strip, where he faced net bowlers Ishan Porel and Kartik Tyagi as well as Test regulars Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin. The BCCI posted a short video of Pujara’s net session on social media.

While most India players competed in IPL 2020, Pujara and Hanuma Vihari joined the national team bubble in the UAE before reaching Australia. Meanwhile, India’s throwdown specialist Raghu, who could not fly with the other support staff as he tested positive for COVID-19 back home, landed in Sydney and is undergoing his quarantine.