Since there was a massive gap between the first four Tests and the final one between England and India, the visitors had a warmup game scheduled against Leicestershire Foxes. India used as many players as they could in this 4-day game to give them all the required practice but we noticed Rohit Sharma not coming out to bat in India’s 2nd innings.
Later in the day towards the end of Day 3, it was confirmed that Rohit will bat in Leicestershire’s 2nd innings but overnight, we got news of the Indian Test captain testing positive for Covid-19 after the result of his Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) taken on 25th June came out positive. He’s now in a race against time to see if he recovers before the 5th Test.
Rohit Sharma to play 5th Test?
A statement from BCCI has confirmed that he’s been placed under isolation and there will be an RT-PCR test done on 26th June as well to ascertain the severity of the infection. Based on that, a call will be taken on whether or not Rohit will be able to recover in time for the final game. It’s surprising however that the warmup game is scheduled to continue Day 4 today.
When Covid-19 was at its peak, any active member of an ongoing game testing positive would’ve led to the entire game being postponed or cancelled. India will still be worried however, as Rohit was named captain and their vice-captain KL Rahul is also not available, missing this series because of a groin injury. So the question is, who will captain India if Rohit doesn’t recover in time?
SEE ALSO: List of top online sports betting websites
There are a few options we have in mind and one of them is the former captain Virat Kohli himself. He scored 100+ runs across the two innings against the Foxes and is in good form. In fact, he was the captain when the first four games were played in this 2021/22 India tour of England. But we don’t think BCCI will want to hand over the reins to him, even if it’s just for one game.
The next option could be Rishabh Pant who was given his first assignment as captain only recently, when South Africa toured India this month for a series of 5 T20 internationals. Leading batsman Cheteshwar Pujara could also be in line to captain the side, someone who has been in England for a while now playing county cricket and scoring big centuries. So, cast your vote here:
Who will captain in Rohit Sharma's absence?#ENGvIND #ENGvsIND #INDvENG
— Read Scoops (@ReadScoops) June 26, 2022
The first option would always be Rohit recovering and captaining the side himself, as he was also the team’s top scorer in the first four games, where he scored 368 runs at an average of 52.27 including one century at The Oval. For more updates from the 2021/22 India tour of England and the world of sports and cricket, make sure you always stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
Register on 10Cric and get 100% first deposit bonus on this betting platform.
