In a major blow ahead of the rescheduled fifth Test against England, India captain Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday, the BCCI said in a statement on social media. (More Cricket News)
The Indian team are currently playing a warm-up game against Leicestershire. The Test against England starts on July 1. “TeamIndia Captain Mr Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday,” the BCCI statement read.
“He is currently in isolation at the team hotel and is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team,” it added. Rohit is a part of the ongoing warm-up fixture but didn’t come out to bat on Day 3. In the first innings, Rohit scored 25 before being dismissed by Roman Walker.
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With just five days left for the first Test to begin at Leeds, Rohit Sharma now faces races against time to be completely fit to take the field against Ben Stokes-led England. If he fails to recover in time, India will be forced to take the field without both of their first-choice openers as KL Rahul was ruled out of the England tour with an injury.
Earlier, India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin too tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of their departure to England. However, he has recovered and had already joined the squad in the United Kingdom.
It's worth noting that India's tour of England last year was cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in the visiting camp. Ravi Shastri, the then India head coach, was among those who were infected with the virus.
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Hours before the toss in Manchester England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) issued a statement, saying that India are "unable to field a team and will instead forfeit the match". Later the two boards agreed to reschedule the match. India are leading the series 2-1.
