India’s much anticipated fifth Test against England gets underway on Friday and it is yet to be clear as to who will captain the visitors. Regular skipper Rohit Sharma had tested positive for Covid-19 during India’s warm-up match before the Test and head coach Rahul Dravid had said on Wednesday that there is still time for the team to decide whether he can play or not.
It is widely expected that fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah could lead the team if Rohit doesn’t make it in the match. However, the question then remains as to who will be India’s opening pair, which was one of the most important factors in India taking a 2-1 lead in the series last year. Both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, who has been ruled out of this year’s tour of England with an injury, had scored a century each and consistently provided strong starts for India.
“Everyone is worried about Rohit Sharma’s availability for the fifth Test. Apart from captaining the side, he was also expected to play a major role as a batter. He made significant contributions in the first four fixtures of this series,” said former fast bowler Zaheer Khan on Cricbuzz.
“KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma were the top performers with the bat against England last year. They were able to give the middle-order a good platform to build on by giving the side good starts. KL Rahul has also been ruled out of the tour and India will miss him,” he further said.
However, Zaheer said that the fact that Bumrah is being touted as India’s captain if Rohit doesn’t play well makes the dangerous fast bowler the player to watch out for.
“If (Rohit) is not there, Bumrah could be captaining the team for the first time. If you ask me about the player to watch out for during the final Test, it is Jasprit Bumrah. I am sure Bumrah must have been thinking about the possibility of captaining the team ever since Rohit tested positive and that brings a different kind of alertness and responsibility, which only works well for the player. In that way, for this match he is the player to watch out for,” said Zaheer.