ENG vs IND: Cheteshwar Pujara In Line To Open Innings In 5th Test - Reports

Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara might be opening the innings in the absence of regular opener, Rohit Sharma. The head coach Rahul Dravid had also hinted at the possibility in the pre-match press conference.

Rohit returned a positive result in his RT-PCR test recently which has almost ruled him out of the Edgbaston Test. Mayank Agarwal has been put on standby and he has also joined the squad in England ahead of the game.

“Rohit is being monitored by the medical team. He is not yet ruled out. Obviously, he needs to get the negative tests before being available. So, he will have a test tonight and one maybe tomorrow morning as well and then we will see,” Dravid said at the pre-match press conference.

“It’s up to the medical team and the sports science team to decide. I haven’t had a chance to see him since he is in quarantine and isolation. We will keep monitoring the situation,” he also added.

Rohit was India’s best batter in the 2021 tour and he top-scored for the team. KL Rahul was the second-highest scorer but both will be missing in the upcoming game.

“It’s probably better the communication comes officially from official sources… Once we have exact clarity on Rohit, you’ll hear something from the official sources. It’s not for me to give out official (updates),” added the former captain when asked about Rohit’s health status.

India’s squad for the fifth Test:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Srikar Bharat (wk)

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