Rohit reportedly in line for Test series involvement

Hamstrung veteran Rohit Sharma is expected to link up with India's Test squad for the second half of their forthcoming Vodafone Series against Australia.

Rohit suffered a hamstring injury during the recent Indian Premier League season then returned to lead the Mumbai Indians to a fifth title.

The 33-year-old was initially left out of the touring party altogether then belatedly added to the squad for the four-Test series.

But he opted to return home after the Twenty20 tournament rather than board the charter flight to Australia.

Multiple Indian media outlets suggested on Friday that Rohit will fly to Australia soon and should be available for the third Test, which starts on January 7 at the SCG.

Rohit will have to spend a fortnight in quarantine upon arrival, as per Australia's policy for all incoming travellers.

It is unclear whether the BCCI has been granted an exemption by a state government for the explosive batsman to train while quarantining.

NSW Health gave India's touring party permission to train for a few hours on each day of their stint in quarantine.

Kohli, speaking before India's tour-opening first ODI against Australia, admitted he was confused about Rohit's fitness and potential availability.

"Before we had the selection meeting in Dubai, we had got an email two days before that, which said that he is unavailable for selection," he said.

"It mentioned there was a two-week rest and rehab period, the pros and cons and the implications of the injury has been explained to him and he understood that.

"After that he played in the IPL, so we all thought he would be on that flight to Australia, which he wasn't.

"And we had no information whatsoever on the reason on why he is not travelling with us."

Kohli added there had been a "lack of clarity" about Rohit's plans.

"We've been playing the waiting game on this issue for a while now," he said. "Which is not ideal at all."

Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

First Test: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT