India vs Australia: WATCH - Rohit Sharma Makes Long-anticipated Return to Nets Ahead of Sydney Test

India may have done well to come back from a demoralising defeat in Adelaide and get a massive win over Australia at Melbourne but the top order remains something of a worry. Dropping Prithvi Shaw for Shubman Gill worked wonders in the second Test but the sketchy form of Mayank Agarwar means the visitors have enough cause for concern going into the third Test. Luckily for team management, Rohit Sharma's hard quarantine is now over and the seasoned opener is not only back training but also hit the nets recently and will give the side an option atop the order should they choose to go that way.

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"The wait is over! The Hitman @ImRo45 show is about to unfold. #TeamIndia," BCCI posted in a tweet that also featured a video of Rohit batting in the nets.

The wait is over!

The Hitman @ImRo45 show is about to unfold.💥😎 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/DdagR1z4BN

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 1, 2021

Rohit Sharma was on Friday appointed the vice-captain of the Indian Test team for the first time in his career, replacing Cheteshwar Pujara, who was entrusted with the responsibility for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

After regular captain Virat Kohli went on paternity leave after the first Test in Adelaide, Pujara was named Ajinkya Rahane's deputy for the second match. However, it is learnt that the team management was always clear that once Rohit is fit and able to join the squad, he will be Rahane's deputy.

Also Read: Team India in 2020 - Champion Side in T20Is, Not so Much in ODIs & Tests

Rohit completed his 14 days of hard quarantine in a Sydney apartment only a few days back and has joined the squad in Melbourne on Wednesday. He received a warm welcome from one and all.

It is still not clear whether Rohit will prefer opening the innings alongside Shubman Gill, with Mayank Agarwal being dropped from the playing eleven due to his prolonged bad patch, or bat in the middle-order in place of Hanuma Vihari, who looks like a certain casualty in terms of team combination.

Rohit has started training from Thursday and the full fledged session of the Indian contingent after new year break will start from Saturday.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma Replaces Cheteshwar Pujara as India's Test Vice-captain

Rohit has scored 2141 runs in 32 Tests at an average of 46 plus. He has six hundreds in his kitty with the best of 212 against South Africa in 2019.

The Indian team will be leaving for Sydney on January 5 for the New Year's Test which is scheduled to start on January 7.

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