Mayank Agarwal added to India Test squad as cover for Rohit Sharma

Opening batsman Mayank Agarwal was on Monday (June 27) added to the Indian Test squad as a cover for captain Rohit Sharma, who tested positive for COVID-19, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced.

The Indian Test team is currently in England to play the rescheduled fifth Test against the host. The match starts on July 1. India leads the series 2-1.

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In a media advisory, the BCCI said, “The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added Mayank Agarwal to India’s Test squad for the rescheduled fifth Test as cover for captain Rohit Sharma, who tested positive for COVID-19. Mayank has left for the UK and will link up with the squad in Birmingham.”

The 31-year-old Agarwal has played 21 Tests for India. He made his debut against Australia in Melbourne in 2018. So far, he has scored 1,488 runs at an average of 41.33 with four hundreds and six fifties.

On Saturday (June 25), the BCCI said Rohit had tested COVID positive. “Team India captain Mr Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday,” BCCI said in a media release.

“He is currently in isolation at the team hotel and is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team. An RT-PCR test will be conducted on Sunday to ascertain his CT value,” it added.

India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Agarwal.