The Indian team management is currently monitoring the fitness progression of Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the Boxing Day Test against Australia this weekend as, if fit, the all-rounder can be expected to feature in the playing XI as the replacement of Hanuma Vihari. Jadeja, who suffered a concussion during the first T20I, also sustained a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the first Test.

However, in recent times, the veteran southpaw has been seen making a comeback to the nets. It has been learned that the senior all-rounder is recovering well but it can’t be said with certainty that he will be regaining complete match fitness for the second Test in Melbourne starting on December 26.

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But if fit, Jadeja will be expected to replace Vihari, not because of his low scores in the Adelaide Test but purely based on the best combination that Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Shastri can put on the field. One of the sources of PTI in BCCI said, “If Jadeja gets fit to bowl long spells, then there is no debate at all. Jadeja replaces Vihari on the basis of his all-around skills. Also, it gives us an option to play five bowlers at the MCG.”

There is a school of thought that if pure batting skills are being considered,  then there is not much of a difference between “specialist Vihari” and “all-rounder Jadeja”. With skipper, Virat Kohli set to leave for India on Tuesday and the Indian team will be traveling to Melbourne, the skipper apparently had a discussion with his team on the way forward after the 36 all-out debacles in Adelaide.

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Senior batsman Rohit Sharma can start training from January 3 ahead of the Sydney Test. He is currently going through a 14-day quarantine in a two-room apartment in Sydney. The BCCI, at the moment, can’t shift Rohit in the middle of quarantine. The other aspect is that CA is still confident of hosting the third Test in Sydney from January 7 as per the schedule and in that case, there is no need to shift the senior player to Melbourne as in any case he is not playing the second game.