Team India opener Rohit Sharma has been declared fit and is set to join the Indian contingent in Australia for the Test series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Saturday, adding his participation in the series is subject to a post-quarantine assessment of his fitness. 

Sharma suffered a hamstring injury during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was left out from the white-ball squads for the tour. He will fly to Australia on December 14 and will join the rest of the squad after completing a mandatory 14-day quarantine. 

The Mumbai Indians captain was cleared his fitness test on Friday at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), where he rehabilitated under the supervision of NCA director Rahul Dravid, PTI reported.  

“Rohit Sharma has completed his rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and is now clinically fit. He has been rehabilitating and training at NCA since 19th November following a high-grade left hamstring injury suffered during the Indian Premier League (IPL),” the BCCI statement read. 

“The NCA medical Team was satisfied with the physical fitness of Mr Sharma after assessing him on different metrics that tested his skills related to batting, fielding and running between the wickets. Mr Sharma’s physical fitness has been satisfactory, however, he will be required to continue work on his endurance.”

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“He has been given a detailed programme to follow for the duration of the two weeks he will be quarantined for. He will be reassessed by the Team India medical team post his quarantine to establish his fitness status and a call on his participation in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be taken accordingly.”

There had been confusion around Rohit’s status over the past few weeks. Captain Virat Kohli spoke about a lack of clarity on the issue that has been full of intrigue ever since he injured his left hamstring during a league match while playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

The injury, which forced him out of four IPL games, prompted the national selectors to not consider him for the Australian tour.

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Omitted from the squad for the much-anticipated tour, he soon returned to lead his franchise in the remainder of the lucrative league, adding to the curiosity.

On November 9, the BCCI provided an update on his status, saying the selectors had kept Rohit out of only the limited-overs leg for him to “regain full fitness” for the Test series.

But the white-ball vice-captain came to Mumbai instead of travelling straight to Australia with his national teammates after leading Indians to IPL title triumph in the UAE.

The BCCI then issued another press release on November 26, a day after Kohli claimed he did not know why Rohit had not done his rehab in Australia, stating that the reason behind the opener coming back to India was his father’s illness.