India opener Mayank Agarwal has been called up as a backup for captain Rohit Sharma, who is down with COVID-19. Mayank departed for England on Monday.
Opener Mayank Agarwal has been called up for the ‘rescheduled’ fifth Test against England after India captain Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and is in a race against time to be fit for the game starting on July 1. (More Cricket News)
The BCCI in a statement confirmed the development. Agarwal left for England on Monday. The right-hander won’t be required to serve any mandatory quarantine as per the latest government rules and thus will be available to play immediately if required.
“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,” BCCI said in a statement.
The 31-year-old was originally omitted for the England Test as the BCCI picked KL Rahul ahead of him. However, an injury to KL Rahul ruled him out of the entire England tour. Agarwal last played for India in a Test match against Sri Lanka at home in March.
After the Sri Lanka series, Agarwal turned out for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League and also played for Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy 2021-22 defeat against Uttar Pradesh in the quarterfinals. In IPL 2022, Agarwal scored just 196 runs as PBKS finished sixth.
The England vs India fifth Test match is a part of the series from last year that had to be postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak in the visiting camp.
India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Agarwal