Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the rescheduled fifth Test against England. Here are the players who could open for India.
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has reportedly been ruled out of India's rescheduled fifth Test match against England at Edgbaston which starts from July 1, after testing positive for Covid once again in the latest round of testing on Wednesday.
According to a report in PTI, Rohit, who had originally contracted the virus last week, returned another covid positive RT-PCR test and has been subsequently ruled out of the Edgbaston Test.
Jasprit Bumrah meanwhile is in line to lead Team India against England, as he will become the sixth Indian captain to lead the Men in Blue across formats in 2022.
But now that Rohit has been ruled out, and KL Rahul is also unavailable through a groin injury, which two batsmen will open the innings for India against England?
Here are the 5 players, who could open for India in the rescheduled fifth Test:
1. Shubman Gill
)
Shubman Gill is surely going to open and will take up one of the two opening slots against England. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma would've been India's ideal opening pair, but with both of them ruled out, it has opened up the doors for Gill.
2. Mayank Agarwal
)
Mayank Agarwal was in the 'standby' players category, for the England tour, but once Rohit tested positive, Mayank was flown to UK, and now he could be one of the names who could be in line to open for India at the Edgbaston Test.
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
)
Being one of India's red-ball specialists, it wouldn't be a surprise if Chetesh Pujara opens the innings for the Men in Blue against England. Pujara was dropped from India's Test squad against Sri Lanka but he's worked his way back into the side, after some impressive performances in the past couple of months.
4. Hanuma Vihari
)
Another prominent face in the Indian Test team, Hanuma Vihari's career has only gone up in recent years, and he too could end up opening the innings alongside Shubman Gill at Edgbaston.
5. Virat Kohli
)
While it may be a long shot, but in recent years we have seen Virat Kohli open the innings for India in shorter formats and going by his exceptional hitting in the warmup game against Leicestershire, the former Indian skipper could well be promoted up the order.
