India tour of Australia – New Year plans for both teams: It’s no secret that the Indian team is very high on confidence after a stellar performance in Melbourne and are looking forward to ushering in the new year on a very positive note. But, as usual COVID-19 has played the spoilsport as India won’t have any grand celebrations on New Year.
How Team India will celebrate New Year?
As per the information available to InsideSport, owing to the current situation India team management will only organize a small get-together in the evening among the players in the hotel itself to celebrate New Year. Some of the players like Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, who have travelled with their respective families will join the get-together along with their loved ones.
The get together will be followed by a dinner after which everyone will head back to their respective rooms.
How Australia will celebrate New Year?
The situation is no different for Australian players and just like Christmas, most of the players and staff will be celebrating the New Year without their families. They will also have a small get together followed by a dinner. Also, as per the information coming in from Australian media, Aussies coach Justin langer will have a pep talk with the players to keep their morale high after the thrashing defeat in the Boxing Day Test.
IND vs AUS 3rd Test: Players to stay in Melbourne for another 4-5 days
The Indian and Australian teams will stay in Melbourne for a few more days and proceed to Sydney only a few days before the third Test match that will begin at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 7, Cricket Australia’s Interim CEO Nick Hockley said.
On Tuesday, Cricket Australia had announced that the third Test will be played in Sydney as scheduled after days of speculation that it could be moved to Melbourne following a rise in Covid-19 cases in the state of New South Wales (NSW), where the city is located.
“Last night’s announcement was that we are proceeding to Sydney and we are putting our plans in place to do that safely. The players will be in Melbourne for a few more days training there, before moving to Sydney a couple of days ahead of the Test match,” Hockley said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday during a virtual interaction.
IND vs AUS 3rd Test: Rohit Sharma joins team India in Melbourne
After much anticipation and wait, Hitman Rohit Sharma has finally rejoined the Indian team who are currently in Melbourne.
After recovering from his hamstring injury, Rohit finaly joined the Men in Blue squad for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 33-year-old landed in Australia after clearing the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and had been quarantining in Sydney.
The third Test starts on January 7, but doubts over him taking part in the game still remains as The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to assess his fitness after the isolation period.
Rohit, who last played an overseas Test back in 2018-19 in Australia will definitely bolster the Indian batting lineup if he is included in the squad. But since India managed to dominate the Aussies in the MCG Test, it remains to be seen who he replaces in the playing eleven.