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Mohammed Siraj, who opted to stay on with the India squad in Australia after his father died recently in Hyderabad, said the words of his mother and captain Virat Kohli helped him make the decision.

"In this situation, the way the whole team has supported me felt very nice," Siraj told bcci.tv. "They ensured there were no difficulties. Virat bhai said, 'Miyan, don't take tension. Stay strong because it was your dad's dream that you do this (play for India), so do that. If you stay strong through this, it will be good for both you and your family.' That was a very positive message for me, and I felt very nice."

Siraj was offered the option to fly back home by the BCCI, but given the quarantine rules in place, he would have had to spend 14 days in isolation if he had travelled home and then flown back to rejoin the team in Australia.

Rohit Sharma is all but likely to partner Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order should he be cleared to fly for the Tests in Australia, but he isn't too fussed over his batting position.

"I will tell you the same thing that I have told everyone all this while. I will be happy to bat wherever the team wants me to, but I don't know if they would change my role as an opener," Sharma told a news agency.

Having started his career in the middle order, Sharma transitioned to become a Test opener during India's home series against South Africa last year and found immediate success. He topped the series charts with 529 runs in four innings, including three centuries.

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar is set to return to the commentary panel for India's tour of Australia, starting November 27. The veteran was dropped by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from the commentary team of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

Manjrekar had stated that he would be 'happy to apologise' and that the sacking had 'shaken my confidence' and was a 'big jolt.' In this communication accessed by The Indian Express, Manjrekar noted that he was told by a BCCI official on phone that he was sacked because 'some players had an issue with me as a commentator.'

It has been speculated that Manjrekar was removed from the panel as a result of his comment calling Ravindra Jadeja a “bits-and-pieces player” during last year’s ODI World Cup and the subsequent reactions from fans and the player himself were an important trigger in him losing his job.

A week after returning home from the UAE as a victorious IPL captain, Rohit Sharma, who played the last three weeks of the tournament at "70 percent fitness" according to the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, arrived at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru on Thursday. It isn't clear yet if Rohit is at the NCA to finish his rehabilitation or take a fitness test.

There has been some confusion surrounding Rohit's hamstring injury. It was expected earlier that he would fly with the rest of the team to Australia directly from Dubai on November 12. And only a week prior to the departure, Ganguly had asked Rohit to exercise caution given the nature of his injury.

"Rohit is injured at the moment. Otherwise, why would we leave out a player like him? He is the vice-captain of the national [limited-overs'] team," Ganguly had said. "We will have to assess him. I don't know [when he can come back]. He hasn't played so far since the time he has got injured. We want him to recover. It's the BCCI's job to get their best players on the park. If he recovers, he plays."

Strict quarantine measures may force players to pull out of overseas trips, senior Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood has said.

Hazlewood's comments came after Australian pace bowler Kane Richardson on Wednesday pulled out of the limited-overs series against India forcing Cricket Australia (CA) to replace him with Andrew Tye.

"These two weeks are the hardest coming back from an overseas tour. That will weigh on a few guys' decisions if we are touring overseas and this is still what has to happen when you have to return," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by an international daily.

"I think bubble life is a lot easier than quarantine. There is a few things you can get out to do and playing cricket as well -- that is a huge bonus. It is different for everyone. If you had to keep doing these two-week stints every time we come back that makes it a difficult choice for each individual."