In a major blow to the Indian team, skipper Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the fifth rescheduled Test match against England. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the Indian team in his absence. Rohit has tested positive for the covid-19 virus for the second time. He is in isolation and under the care of the BCCI medical team.
Initially, Rohit Sharma had tested positive for the virus during the four-day warm-up match against Leicestershire. Notably, he did not come out to bat in the second innings of the warm-up match. The right-handed batter also missed the practice session at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on Wednesday, which indicated that he hasn’t recovered fully.
NEWS 🚨 – @Jaspritbumrah93 to lead #TeamIndia in the fifth Test Match against England.@RishabhPant17 will be the vice-captain for the match.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ueWXfOMz1L
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 30, 2022
In Rohit Sharma’s absence, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been given leadership duties by the Indian team. This will mark Bumrah’s captaincy for India at the international level. Earlier this year, he was the made the vice-captain of the Indian team in the ODI series against South Africa.
“Rohit is out of this Test match, starting July 1, as his RT-PCR test has come positive again. He is still in isolation. Jasprit Bumrah, who is one of the vice-captains in absence of KL Rahul, will lead the team,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Jasprit Bumrah will be the first pacer since Kapil Dev to lead India in Test cricket. He will also be the 36th cricketer to lead India in the longest format since the country first played in 1932. Rishabh Pant has been appointed as the vice-captain for the match.
Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal is likely to be included in the Indian squad as Rohit Sharma has been ruled out. He was called in by the BCCI as a stand-by for Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma will miss the fifth test (against England) and Jasprit Bumrah will lead the Indian side. He has been informed about this in the team meeting: Sources
(File Pic) pic.twitter.com/AvJRstH6Lq
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022
Cheteshwar Pujara likely to open for India in the fifth Test
Cheteshwar Pujara is likely to open the innings along with Shubman Gill in the fifth Test match for India. Both the regular openers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are unavailable for the match. KL Rahul was already ruled out of the match with a groin injury.
“Mayank is here just as cover. It is likely to be the Pujara-Gill combination that is going to open the batting. There is an outside chance for Hanuma Vihari to open as he has done the job in a stop-gap arrangement in Australia during the 2018 series. But chances of Pujara opening are way more,” said the source as quoted by NDTV.
The fifth rescheduled test match will take place at the Edgbaston in Birmingham, starting from July 1. India is leading the five-match test series 2-1.
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