IND vs ENG | Mayank Agarwal likely to replace Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah to take charge

Indian batter Mayank Agarwal has been called up to join the Test squad ahead of the fifth Test at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham starting July 1.

Agarwal was named as the standby player when the Board of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the Edgbaston Test. He's been added to the Test squad as a cover to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma.  

He'll leave for England on Monday and join his team in the evening. The 31-year-old cricketer will not be required to undergo any quarantine and will thus be available to play immediately if needed.

Rohit was tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday (June 24) and missed the final two days of the warm-up match against Leicestershire. He's now facing a race against time to make it to the Test match that commences on July 1.

Initially, three openers were named in the Test squad that was announced in May. Apart from Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill were named in the team. 

However, after Rahul was ruled out of the game due to a groin injury, there were speculations that the selectors would send Mayank as KL Rahul's replacement. But despite Rahul missing out, BCCI decided against it as only one test match was to be played in the series, and third Gill was a part of the squad.

Bumrah has been put on standby to lead. But a final decision will be taken when the chief selector Chetan Sharma reaches England on June 28 after completing the T20I series against Ireland.

"Rohit (Sharma) will remain in isolation. There is no rush to take a decision on captaincy yet. If Rohit tests negative by June 30, he will be available for the match. He is match-fit and should not be a problem. The chairman (selection committee) will reach England after the Ireland series. If a captaincy decision needs to be taken, he will at that time," a member of the selection committee told InsideSport.

"Jasprit (Bumrah) has been informed about the situation, and he is on standby to lead. Look, Rishabh (Pant) is very young and needs to be groomed to lead in Tests. If Rohit (Sharma) is not available, Rishabh will be the vice-captain," the board official said.

Rohit Sharma is under mandatory isolation until June 29, and will only be available a couple of days before the IND vs ENG 5th Test. The opener should clear two negative PCR Tests to make him available for the rescheduled game. The Indian captain was match-fit and raring to go before being forced into quarantine.

The Karnataka-based right-hand batter's last appearance came against Sri Lanka in the home series. In three innings against them, he had registered scores of 33, 4, and 22. Notably, Agarwal has not scored a Test fifty in his last 8 innings, while he has scored only one century in his previous 24 innings. If Rohit fails to recover in time for the match, Agarwal looks set to open the innings alongside Gill. 

India can also look at the other options like KS Bharat or Hanuma Vihari. Bharat opened in one innings of the practice game and scored 43 off 98 deliveries. While Vihari has opened for India in Australia, and to accommodate him and Shreyas Iyer together in the same XI, this move could well be on the cards.