In a major jolt to Team India, skipper Rohit Sharma has tested positive for Covid-19 right ahead of the rescheduled Test against England which is slated to be played from July 1 at Edgbaston, as Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) confirmed the development on Sunday's morning, following the end of Day 3 of the ongoing warm-up game between India and Leicestershire.
"UPDATE - #TeamIndia Captain Mr Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday. He is currently in isolation at the team hotel and is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team," said BCCI's official statement.
The 35-year-old Indian skipper is expected to open the innings alongside Shubman Gill in the Test match and his participation would now depend on result of his RT-PCR test and recovery.
Rohit was part of the Indian team in the ongoing warm-up game against Leicestershire, but didn't come to bat during Day 3 even as the side lost seven wickets, scoring 364 by the end of the day's play.
In the first innings, Rohit scored 25 runs before being dismissed by Roman Walker. He also took the field on the second day as India bowled Leicestershire out on 244. The Indian captain now faces a race against time in order to make a full recovery before the scheduled start of India's fifth and final Test of the series against England on July 1 in Edgbaston.
Rohit is currently the highest scorer for India in the series, with 368 runs in four matches at an impressive average of 52.27. If Rohit Sharma fails to recover in time for the fifth Test, India will take the field without both of their first-choice openers as KL Rahul has already been ruled out of the series with an injury.
Earlier, on Day 3 of the warm-up game against Leicestershire, Team India produced an improved batting performance with Shreyas Iyer (62), Ravindra Jadeja (56*), and Virat Kohli (67) slamming half-centuries. With Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj (1*) remained unbeaten at the end of day's play.
Earlier, India's ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin missed the flight with the India Test squad to the UK after testing positive for Covid-19 however he later recovered from the virus and joined India's squad of late.
The rescheduled fifth Test will act as a decider for the five-Test series that started in July 2021. India were leading 2-1 and before they could take on England in the fifth Test in Manchester, their contingent was hit with a series of COVID-19 cases and eventually the match was deferred. Both Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England Cricket Board (ECB) mutually decided to reschedule the fifth Test in 2022, where India were already scheduled to play white-ball fixtures.
KL Rahul, however, will miss the tour this time because of a groin injury, which had also ruled him out of the series against South Africa. His absence opened the door for Gill to open for India.
India's tour of England also comprises three T20Is and as many ODIs, and the visitors will play two warm-up matches against Derbyshire and Northamptonshire before the white-ball series.
India’s squad for the rescheduled fifth Test vs England:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Srikar Bharat (wk).
