India coach Ravi Shastri has said that Rohit Sharma will join the squad on Wednesday, adding that they will now look at how the player is physically after completing his quarantine before a call is taken on his inclusion in the team for the third Test against Australia. "Rohit Sharma will join the team tomorrow. We will have a chat with him to see where he is placed physically because he has been in quarantine for the last couple of weeks. We'll also see how he feels before we take the call," Shastri said in the post-match press conference.
Earlier, ANI had reported that the Indian opener will fly from Sydney on Wednesday (December 30) and join the rest of the team in Melbourne as the third Test in the four-match series is all but set to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with an eye on the recent outbreak of coronavirus cases in Sydney. Sources in the know of developments within Cricket Australia (CA) had said the opener will be flown in to Melbourne and will enter Team India's bio-bubble on Wednesday.
Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane also made his excitement known after the win at MCG. "We're excited about Rohit coming back. Spoke to him yesterday, he's waiting to join the team," Rahane said.
India on Tuesday secured an eight-wicket victory over Australia in the Boxing Day Test. Rahane's 12th century in the longest format of the game and Ravindra Jadeja's well-made fifty had given India firm control in the second Test.
It was a Test master-class from Rahane as he played the first two sessions cautiously and then unleashed his true class after tea on Sunday. If one session had cost India the first Test, it was again a session -- which Rahane and Jadeja weathered on day two -- that saw the visitors bag the second game.
After the inspiring show by the batsmen, the Indian bowlers ensured that they kept the foot on the pedal as the hosts managed to score just 200 in the second innings after finishing on 195 in the first.
With this victory, the visitors have leveled the four-match Test series 1-1. Moreover, the win also ensured India moved a step closer to the final of the World Test Championship.