India vs Australia | Rohit Sharma re-unites with Team India in Melbourne after completing quarantine

Melbourne, Dec 30: Senior India cricketer Rohit Sharma successfully completed his quarantine and joined his teammates in Melbourne on Wednesday (December 30). The 33-year-old right-handed batsman from Mumbai who landed Australian shores on December 16 completed the 14-day mandatory quarantine protocol that has been put in place by the local administration.

The BCCI took to its Twitter handle and shared a small video of Rohit arriving at the hotel and getting a warm reception from the team management as well as his teammates. Rohit could be seen wearing mask and gloves while entering the hotel.

Rohit's arrival will further boost the morale of the Indian team that secured an emphatic win in the Boxing Day Test on Tuesday (December 29). The senior cricketer will be part of India's Playing XI against Australia in the third Test scheduled to begin on January 7 in Sydney.

It will now be interesting to see on which position Rohit will be batting and whom the right-handed batsman is going to replace.

Meanwhile, the Indian and Australian teams will continue to train in Melbourne for a few more days and travel to Sydney only three days prior to the third Test. Usually, the teams land in Sydney on the eve of the New Year but due to steady coronavirus cases in the city, the players and officials will stay in Melbourne for a longer period this year.

"Last night's announcement is we're proceeding in Sydney and we're putting our plans in place to do that and to do that safely. Players will be in Melbourne for a few more days, training there and moving up to Sydney a couple of days ahead of the Test match," CA chief executive Nick Hockley said.

On Tuesday, Cricket Australia had decided to retain Sydney as the venue for the third Test, ending speculation that the game could move to Melbourne because of stringent COVID-19 border restrictions that would have affected the players' movement for the fourth match in Brisbane. Hockley said the protocols put in place will ensure that broadcast crew can safely travel to Brisbane.

The four-Test series is currently locked 1-1 after India won the second game at the MCG, which was placed on standby in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney's northern beaches before Christmas.