Former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha says experienced opening batsman Rohit Sharma must look to make the most of his limited training time and get reaccustomed to the conditions in Australia before taking part in the New Year's Test in Sydney, starting January 7. 

Rohit, who has been on multiple tours to Australia, missed the first two Tests in Adelaide and Melbourne due to a hard quarantine he endured in Sydney as per regulations imposed down under amid COVID-19 pandemic. 

WATCH- Rohit Sharma welcomed by his India teammates in Melbourne

The elegant right-hander couldn't travel directly from UAE to Australia with his teammates because of a hamstring injury he picked up in October while playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2020. He was hence denied a training exemption while undergoing isolation. 

Earlier, while Rohit underwent his rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, he was rested for the limited-overs leg of the Australian tour. 

"Rohit needs a lot of practice now because he had a 14-day quarantine period in his room, he has to get used to the conditions their and I think its the best way - go out their and practice," Ojha said on Sports Today about the Mumbaikar who rejoined the Indian squad in Melbourne on Wednesday (December 30). 

"At NCA they made sure that Rohit was training harder because during the IPL and before that he had put on a little bit of weight, so they wanted him to reduce that. When you have not played for so long we are seeing a lot of injuries this season. So maybe because of that they wanted Rohit to be totally match fit."

"At NCA everybody's focus was to get Rohit ready so that he doesn't have an injury on the field," he added. 

Rohit was the only Indian batsman seen training at the MCG nets on Thursday. The batsman will be revisiting Sydney along with the rest of the team only on January 4 for the Test match starting three days later. 

Earlier, the touring squad was set to enter New South Wales on December 31st, but that had to change because of the sudden Coronavirus outbreak in Sydney. 

The SCG held on to the third Test despite fears around the pandemic and complications borne out of it, confirmed Cricket Australia (CA) on Tuesday. The confirmation came only after a quarantine exemption was provided for both the teams by the government of Queensland, the state host of the final Test in Brisbane, which had recently imposed restrictions on those arriving from Sydney. 

The fourth and final Test will start off on January 15.