A BCCI statement on their official website said about the development, “Mr Rohit Sharma, Captain, Indian Cricket Team is ruled out of the rescheduled fifth Test against England to be played from Friday. Rohit underwent a RAT Test on Thursday morning and returned a positive result for COVID-19.”

The official statement further added, “The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Mr Jasprit Bumrah as captain for the upcoming Test and Mr Rishabh Pant as his deputy.”

At a press conference after being picked as India’s 36th Test captain, an elated Bumrah said, “This is a huge achievement, a huge honour. Playing Test match for the country was my dream and getting this opportunity is the biggest achievement of my career.” The 28-year-old pacer is the first bowler since Kapil Dev in 1987 to lead India in a Test match. Anil Kumble (2008) was the last bowler to captain India in a Test match.

At a press conference after being picked as India’s 36th Test captain, an elated Bumrah said, “This is a huge achievement, a huge honour. Playing Test match for the country was my dream and getting this opportunity is the biggest achievement of my career.” The 28-year-old pacer is the first bowler since Kapil Dev in 1987 to lead India in a Test match. Anil Kumble (2008) was the last bowler to captain India in a Test match.

India will be missing the services of Rohit not just as captain but batter as well. He was the leading run-scorer during the 2021 tour, scoring 368 runs at an average of 52.57. Apart from Rohit, KL Rahul, who scored 315 runs at an average of just under 40 last year in England, will also miss out due to injury.

India’s Test squad for Birmingham match: 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

–By A Cricket Correspondent