India vs Australia 2020-21: Rohit Sharma arrives in NCA to assess fitness

India and Australia are set to lock horns from November 27 across formats, Down Under. India have a formidable squad to defend the titles they won the last time. However, opener Rohit Sharma's fitness is a concern, who is currently recovering from a hamstring strain.

Indian opener Rohit Sharma is facing issues with his fitness, as he continues to recover from a hamstring strain, he suffered during the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Consequently, it has put him in doubt for the upcoming tour of Australia, where he is missing out on the limited-overs contests but is slated to be a part of the Tests.

Rohit suffered the injury while playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) during their clash against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), which saw twin Super Overs. It was then that he had to miss out on five games, before returning for the playoffs.

As per the medical team of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rohit has not wholly recovered yet and has been advised to heal up completely, before getting back to national duty. Meanwhile, he has arrived at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, in order to judge his fitness, ahead of the Australia tour, reports ESPNCricinfo.

Although it is not clear whether he would also undergo a rehabilitation program at the NCA, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has urged Rohit to be careful with his injury. He had also said that making Rohit rush into a comeback could worsen his damage in the long run.

"Rohit is injured at the moment. Otherwise, why would we leave out a player like him? He is the vice-captain of the national [limited-overs'] team. We will have to assess him. I don't know [when he can come back]. He hasn't played so far since the time he has got injured. We want him to recover. It's the BCCI's job to get their best players on the park. If he recovers, he plays," Ganguly had said last week.

Besides Rohit, pacer Ishant Sharma is another injury concern for the side, who has been sidelined and is in doubt for the tour. Currently, he too is at the NCA, under the vigilant eyes of their staff, as well as former chief selector Sunil Joshi.

In case both are cleared before the Tests, they would fly to Australia to join Team India. However, it is yet unclear as to if both would be able to make it before the two warm-up ties, prior to the Tests.