Xtra Time Web Desk: Ace India opener Rohit Sharma on Wednesday finally met his teammates in Melbourne hotel after finishing his mandatory quarantine in Sydney. Rohit reached the Park Hyatt hotel in Melbourne in the evening and was welcomed by the entire team in the team room amidst loud claps and cheers.
In a video shared by BCCI on its official twitter handle, Rohit was seen greeted by teammates Ravindra Jadeja,Wriddhiman Saha, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and rest. He was seen having a brief chat with batting coach Vikram Rathour before patting Jasprit Bumrah during a team meeting. The video ends with Team India Head Coach Ravi Shastri enquiring about him by saying, “How was quarantine, my friend? You’re looking younger.”
Rohit was staying at the Meriton Serviced Apartments on Sussex Street in Melbourne. He has been staying all alone during the quarantine period. The accommodation is turned into a COVID hotel by New South Wales Government. He left the accommodation for the airport around 4pm on Wednesday.
It will no doubt be a huge boost for the Indian camp with Rohit joining the team. But for Rohit to make himself available for team selection, he has to pass a fitness test carried on by the team physio and trainer.
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.
Both India and Australia teams will be 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. However the third test match will go ahead in Sydney as scheduled starting January 07.
Ajinkya Rahane led Indian team scripted a remarkable comebacks in the history of cricket to beat Australia in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne by 8 wickets. The four test series is now leveled 1-1 with two more test matches to go in Sydney and Brisbane respectively.