Melbourne: India opener Rohit Sharma joined the rest of his teammates at a Melbourne hotel as he flew into the Australian city after completing a 14-day mandatory quarantine period in Sydney. Rohit Sharma received a warm welcome from his teammates and the support staff as the star batsman was seen sporting a face mask as he walked into the team hotel.
Rohit Sharma was greeted by his teammates, including the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha among others. Batting coach Vikram Rathour was seen having a brief chat with the opener. Rohit also patted Bumrha on the back during the team gathering at the hotel. In a video shared by the BCCI, Rohit can be also be seen interacting with head coach Ravi Shastri. "How was quarantine, my friend? You're looking younger," Shastri can be heard saying.
Look who's joined the squad in Melbourne
The mood in the team gathering was upbeat as India had scripted one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of cricket to beat Australia in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne by 8 wickets. India completed the victory on Tuesday after gunning down a 70-run target with relative ease. It was heartening to see the team fight back and deliver big, especially after they were bundled out for their lowest Test score of 36-all out in Adelaide. Rohit did not play the first 2 Tests as the opening batsman was recovering from a hamstring injury he picked up during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. Rohit was not part of the limited-overs series as well as he was undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
Rohit passed a fitness test and reached Sydney earlier this month but he was not able to join the squad ahead of the Melbourne Test due to hard quarantine rules. Rohit spent 14 days in quarantine in Sydney. Notably, there has been an itinerary change for both India and Australia teams as they will reaching Sydney only on January 4. They were expected to reach Sydney on December 31 but the Covid-19 situation has forced a change in their plans. Sydney has held on to the third Test despite the rising cases of the Covid-19 in the city, Cricket Australia confirmed on Tuesday. Melbourne, which hosted the just-concluded Boxing Day Test, was being kept on standby.