Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari will be leaving for Dubai on Sunday (October 25) along with the coaching staff, and join the rest of the Indian squad before departing to Australia. 

Shastri, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo, will land in UAE on Monday. Batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar will also be part of the small contingent that will then join the players currently busy with IPL duties. 

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In Dubai, this group will be following the same Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) used for all IPL players by the BCCI. They'll go through a six-day quarantine, including regular COVID-19 tests. But Shastri & co won't be allowed inside the IPL bio-bubble and will be isolated separately.

India will be playing three ICC ODI Super League and three T20I matches before the four World Test Championship fixtures on their trip. 

But the squads for each format aren't yet finalised, with the news that the selection panel awaits approval of the schedule from CA and BCCI. 

"The selectors did not want to finalise the squads without a final approval from the BCCI to the CA schedule," the report stated. "The selectors, though, are understood to have already had informal discussions and are expected to meet early next week to finalise the three squads."

As per the proposed schedule, India's limited-overs matches will be held in Sydney and Canberra from November 27 after the completion of their 14-day isolation, during which, thankfully, they'll be allowed to use the training facilities within New South Wales. 

The Test series will then kickstart with India's maiden D/N pink-ball away outing in Adelaide on December 17, followed by games in Melbourne (December 26-30), Sydney (January 7-11) and Brisbane (December 15-19). 

(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)