The All India National Selection Committee has decided to add Mayank Agarwal to India’s Test squad. As Rohit Sharma is doubtful for the rescheduled Test match against England after he was tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday.
But Agarwal isn’t in the best of forms in the recent past as he scored 196 runs in 13 matches of Tata IPL 2022 at an average of 16.33 while leading Punjab Kings.
As KL Rahul was already ruled out of the rescheduled Test match due to a right groin injury, India only had one designated opener in Shubman Gill. If Mayank Agarwal was not named in the squad, then Hanuma Vihari might have opened the innings.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has made no announcement on the captain’s change so far. If Rohit fails to recover on time, then it will be interesting to note who will lead India against England. It is expected that either Jasprit Bumrah could lead the team for the first time in Test matches or Virat Kohli might return to captaincy for this Test match only.
India had taken a 2-1 lead and if they can win the fifth Test match, then it will be their first Test series win in England after 2007 when current head coach Rahul Dravid had led the team to a 1-0 series win in English conditions.
On the other hand, Rohit’s absence will be a big blow for the visitors. The right-hander was at his best in 2021 as he had scored 368 runs in four Test matches against England at an impressive average of 52.57 and had played a key role in giving solid starts to the team along with KL Rahul.
India’s updated Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, 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.
