India tour of England: Mayank Agarwal added to Test squad as cover for Covid-positive Rohit Sharma
India Today
India tour of England: The BCCI said on Monday that Mayank Agarwal has been picked as cover fro Rohit Sharma who is doubtful for the Birmingham Test, starting July 1, after testing positive for Covid-19.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday, June 27 confirmed that Mayank Agarwal has been added to the Test squad for the rescheduled match against England in Birmingham. Mayank has been added as cover for Rohit Sharma, who is in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, June 25.
Mayank Agarwal, who was not picked in the original squad, left for the UK on Monday morning and link up with the Test team in Birmingham. India and England meet in the rescheduled 5th Test, a spillover from last year's series, from July 1 at Edgbaston.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added Mayank Agarwal to India’s Test squad for the rescheduled fifth Test as cover for captain Rohit Sharma, who tested positive for COVID-19. Mayank has left for the UK and will link up with the squad in Birmingham," the BCCI said.
Mayank Agarwal posted a photo of himself departing to England earlier on Monday. The Karnataka batter last played for India during the home series against Sri Lanka in February but he was not considered for selection after an ordinary showing against the islanders even as India won the series 2-0.
India's Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Agarwal.
The BCCI has still named Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Test side, hinting they are hoping the skipper recovers in time for the much-anticipated Test.
Notably, Rohit led India in the 4-day practice match against Leicestershire last week. The Indian captain batted in the first innings and scored 25 runs but he did not take the field during the 2nd innings, raising quite a few eyebrows. The BCCI confirmed on Sunday that Rohit would undergo an RT-PCR test which would determine his CT value.
