Rohit Sharma is down with COVID and will miss the final Test match
Highlights
- The final test starts from July 1
- Rohit Sharma is ruled out of the Test match and might be replaced by Mayank Agarwal
- Jasprit Bumrah is all set to lead India
The problems related to the Indian team and their habit of playing around with strict guidelines are something that is getting worse with each passing day. With the recently concluded Test series between England and New Zealand getting plagued by the COVID-19 virus, it is very much evident that the Indian team has to stay careful, or else the last Test match could be affected and play might be called off.
The one-off Test match that is to be played starting July 1 was initially a part of India's red ball tour to England last year. With COVID wreaking havoc through various parts of Britain, the match had to be postponed and it was mutually agreed between the ECB and the BCCI that the remaining Test match will be played when India travels to England for their white ball tour in 2022.
To ensure that the match is being carried out safely and there is no danger to the players and the support staff, the ECB and BCCI have laid out a few strict rules for the Indian contingency, but as of now it seems like none of it is being respected, neither by the juniors nor by the seniors. Team India has been flouting these rules from the time they reached England for the series, as a result, skipper Rohit Sharma is down with the virus and is missing the fifth test.
Rohit Sharma who was about to lead India in the final test, which also happens to be his debut Test match as a captain in overseas conditions will now rest and Mayank Agarwal might open along with youngster Shubhman Gill. This has come as a huge blow to the Indian team as the onus of making runs now falls upon the shoulders of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant too was seen interacting with the crowd and signing autographs without even wearing a mask. Now this situation is extremely alarming and certainly cements the fact that there is a lack of sense of responsibility within the entire Indian team. Surprisingly, these things are not happening for the first time.
When India traveled to Australia for the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar series, they behaved in the same manner after the MCG Test, whereas the Australian players were not even allowed to move out of their rooms and celebrated Christmas without their respective families.
In this time and age of the pandemic where there are strict guidelines throughout the world for visitors, it is high time that the Indian team understands that a lot is at the stake as far as the last Test match is concerned and they should behave responsibly to ensure that the series and the tour goes ahead.
