Mayank joins Test squad as cover for Rohit

NEW DELHI: Opener Mayank Agarwal has been called up to join the Indian squad in the UK as cover for skipper Rohit Sharma, who has been rendered doubtful for the Edgbaston Test against England after testing positive for Covid-19.

Rohit competed on the first day of the drawn warm-up game against Leicestershire before being placed under isolation. He had tested positive in a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).

The 31-year-old Agarwal had missed out on making the 15-man squad for the game, starting July 1, but an opportunity has come his way as KL Rahul got injured just ahead of the South Africa series and now Rohit has contracted infection.

“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,” said the BCCI in a statement.

A BCCI source added: “If needed, he will be available for the Test match as UK Covid protocols don’t require any quarantine period on landing if RT-PCR test is negative.”

The fifth Test against England is from last year’s incomplete series which got spilled to this season due to an outbreak of Covid-19 in the Indian camp.

India are leading the series 2-1. Agarwal has featured in 21 Tests so far, scoring 1488 runs at an average of 41.33.

In the two-Test series, he managed just 59 runs (33, 4, 22) in three innings. He also fared poorly while leading Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League, scoring 196 runs in 13 games.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Agarwal.