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After regular captain Rohit Sharma was ruled out due to COVID-19, seamer Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston. Wicket-Keeper Rishabh Pant has been named Vice- captain.
“Rohit underwent a Rapid Antigen Test on Thursday morning and returned a positive result for COVID-19. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Mr Jasprit Bumrah as captain for the upcoming Test and Mr Rishabh Pant as his deputy,” the BCCI said in a statement.
Rohit tested positive during a warm-up match in Leicester last week.
Mayank Agarwal has joined the squad as cover but India have yet to decide who will be Shubman Gill’s opening partner in Rohit’s absence.
Head Coach Rahul Dravid has said they have two more options in stumper-batsman KS Bharat and top order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.
India were 2-1 ahead in the series last September when the final test at Old Trafford was cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in their camp. The fifth Test will be played in Edgbaston from July 1.
India’s Test squad: Jasprit Bumrah (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain) (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Agarwal
