The BCCI, on Thursday (June 30), confirmed that skipper Rohit Sharma would miss the upcoming Test against England while also naming his replacement.

On the eve of the much-anticipated Test against England, the BCCI has confirmed the names of the captain and the vice-captain for the game. Rohit has failed to recover in time for the game after being tested positive for Covid-19.

The India skipper tested positive after taking a Rapid Antigen Test on Saturday and did not feature in the second innings of the warm-up match against Leicestershire. The upcoming Test against England would have been Rohit’s first overseas Test as captain. However, the star batsman has failed to recover in time.

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India Tour of England 2022 – Rohit Sharma’s replacement

The BCCI has confirmed that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah would lead the team while wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will be his deputy. Bumrah becoming the captain is a watershed moment for Indian cricket.

Indian cricket has hardly seen a pacer lead the team in international cricket. The last time a pacer led India in Test was way back in 1987 when Kapil Dev was the captain. Bumrah has the chance to seal a memorable series win for the team. India are leading the series 2-1 and a positive result in the upcoming game will be enough to clinch the series. India have not won a Test series in England since 2007.

NEWS 🚨 – @Jaspritbumrah93 to lead #TeamIndia in the fifth Test Match against England.@RishabhPant17 will be the vice-captain for the match.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ueWXfOMz1L

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 30, 2022

Winning the game, however, won’t be easy against the high-flying hosts especially in Rohit and KL Rahul’s absence. Both Rohit and Rahul had starred with the bat for India last year during the first four Tests of the series. While Rohit was the highest run-scorer for the team, Rahul was second highest. They were the only two Indian batsmen who had managed to cross the 300-run mark.

Meanwhile, England will be high on confidence after their recent win over New Zealand in the three-Test series. In all the three games, the hosts chased down more than 250 runs in the fourth innings to blow away the reigning World Test Champions.