BCCI to assess Rohit Sharma's fitness on Sunday, likely to decide on Team India inclusion

Amid the IPL 2020 approaching the final and India's tour of Australia also nearing, all eyes have now shifted on to ace top-order batsman Rohit Sharma, who currently is recovering from a hamstring injury. The Mumbai skipper had sustained the injury during the team's fixture against Punjab and was consequently dropped from India's squad slated to tour Australia in November end. The BCCI had informed that it was monitoring Sharma's injury and would take a call subsequently. 

Now, as per ANI sources, the BCCI medical team is set to assess Rohit Sharma's injury on Sunday to take a final call on his fitness and whether he can be included in Team India for the tour of Australia. The medical team's area of focus would be his acceleration and deceleration process. 

"Rohit will be assessed tomorrow and a call will be taken after that on whether he is good to go. As is the case with hamstring injuries, the real challenge is the sprints and the acceleration and deceleration process will be the focus to understand if he has recovered fully or will need a little more time," ANI quoted a BCCI functionary.

"The hamstring muscles come into play when a person needs to suddenly run a quick single or needs to stop fast and turn at the non-striker's end for a double. While you accelerate at the beginning of the sprint, you decelerate when you need to stop and turn. This is when the focus is 100 per cent on the functionality of the hamstring muscles. So, if you have recovered completely, you wouldn't have an issue in either acceleration or deceleration," he further explained. 

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'Rohit Sharma training regularly'

Earlier, the BCCI physio had asserted that the opener would need a minimum of 2-3 weeks to return to fitness. It has been reported that he has been hitting the nets and is making effort to regain full match fitness. Having qualified for the playoffs, Mumbai would be desperately waiting for their skipper's return to the field as they gun for another trophy in their cabinet.

"He has been training regularly. The day after the Punjab game was a rest day so there was anyway no training. But wherever the Mumbai unit has trained, he has been there and while he slowly started with working on his leg, he has been hitting the nets now. In fact, before the last game, he also took throwdowns at the ground. He is clearly making an honest effort to regain full match fitness," sources told ANI. 

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India tour of Australia 

India will kick off their tour to Australia with a three-match ODI series starting on Friday, 27 November, followed by as many T20Is and four Tests. The T20Is will be played in Canberra (4 December) and Sydney (6, 8 December). 

The first Test will be a day/night affair, from 17-21 December at the Adelaide Oval. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (26-30 December) will host the Boxing Day Test, before the action moves to the Sydney Cricket Ground (7-11 January) and the Gabba (15-19 January). With India currently on top of the World Test Championship table and Australia in second, the series is expected to be a thriller, as it will also be a part of the ICC World Test Championship. 

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