Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will make his Test captaincy debut against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham. In the absence of Covid-affected Rohit Sharma, Bumrah will be the stand-in skipper. On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been made vice-captain.
Bumrah is set to make history when he walks out for the coin toss on July 1. India’s pace-bowling spearhead will become the first Indian bowler in 35 years to lead India in Test cricket. In 1987, legendary Kapil Dev led India in the red-ball format.
With the official announcement of Rohit getting ruled out, BCCI is yet to name his replacement as opener in the side. Mayank Agarwal was called in as backup opener whereas in the pre-match press conference head coach Rahul Dravid hinted that Cheteshwar Pujara may bat higher up the order or Srikar Bharat may get to make his debut.
Pujara did not deliver exceptional performances in the warm-up game against Leicestershire but made a comeback into the Test side after consistent performances for Sussex. Bharat, who opens for Andhra Pradesh, opened in the second innings and impressed in the warm-up game. In the first innings, the wicketkeeper-batter scored an unbeaten 70 as well.
While the Indian lineup for the rescheduled Test has not been revealed, England Cricket Board (ECB) announced the playing XI on the eve of the Test. England dropped Jamie Overton, who made his debut against New Zealand in the third Test and scored 97 runs to rescue England from the batting collapse alongside in-form batter Jonny Bairstow.
England Playing XI: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Sam Billings (wk), Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson
