Mayank and Pujara | File Photo
Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the fifth and final test vs England at Edgbaston and will miss what was about to be his first overseas test as captain.
He tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday, and is currently in isolation at the team hotel and is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team.
With Rohit out of the playing eleven, veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has a good chance of opening the batting with young Shubman Gill. The source said that Mayank Agarwal has just been brought as "cover" and is not in the scheme of things as far featuring in the playing eleven is concerned.
"Mayank is here just as a cover. It is likely to be the Pujara-Gill combination that is going to open the batting.
There is an outside chance for Hanuma Vihari to open as he has done the job in a stop-gap arrangement in Australia during the 2018 series. But chances of Pujara opening are way more," he said.
It is understood that the specialist batters in the set-up will be Pujara, Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Vihari and Rishabh Pant. The only other debatable matter is whether to play a fourth fast-bowling all-rounder in Shardul Thakur or a second spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin alongside Ravindra Jadeja.
Along with Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami select themselves automatically. The fifth and final test will start on July 1, and India is currently leading the series 2-1.
(Inputs PTI)
