Senior Indian opener Rohit Sharma has been quite a headache for Team India management, owing to his hamstring strain. Meanwhile, his participation in the upcoming four-Test series against Australia looked doubtful, until Friday, when he was declared fit.
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It was during the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) when he suffered the injury, which kept him out for five games. Although he did return for the playoffs, he was far from being 100% fit, as he was advised to undergo rest and rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), in Bengaluru. At the same time, he missed out on the limited-overs commitments in Australia.
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ANI confirms that as per reports received by them Rohit has been deemed 100% fit to return to international cricket. "He has passed the fitness test and the future course of action will be decided by the BCCI and the selection committee," a source was quoted as saying.
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Although he was being backed to participate in the Tests during the course of his injury, it depended on the feedback given by NCA to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday. And, now that he has been cleared, it would be interesting to see as to how BCCI integrates him into the squad, owing to the 14-day quarantine regulations put in place by Australia, which is likely to rule him out for the opening two Tests.
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In order to make his participation easier, he had been asked to travel directly to Australia from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the IPL. However, owing to some personal family issues, he decided to travel to India and rehab at the NCA.
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There were also reports that BCCI was not looking to rush Rohit to a return unless he has regained complete fitness, which is required for the longest format of the game. Meanwhile, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had dropped a bomb, saying that there was a lack of communication regarding Rohit and pacer Ishant Sharma's fitness. At the same time, he rued the fact the allowing both the rehab in Australia would have made things easier.
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Although Ishant has been entirely ruled out of the Tests due to abdominal muscle tear, Rohit is undoubtedly happy to be back. Rohit's last Test came last year during the day-night Test against Bangladesh, while he missed out on the two-Test series in New Zealand due to a calf injury.
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