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Jasprit Bumrah (Image source: Twitter)
All eyes are set on the upcoming India vs England fifth Test starting on 1st July at Birmingham. England have already announced their playing XI for the Test against India. Meanwhile, India were at crossroads regarding their captaincy.
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The Indian captain Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19 during the warm-up game with Leicestershire and could not recover in time. KL Rahul having been ruled out with an injury and Virat Kohli already stepped down unceremoniously from the position left no one in the team capable of shouldering the role.
The Indian Cricket Board has finally quashed all doubts about captaincy and announced that Jasprit Bumrah would lead the Indian Test side against England in the 5th Test. The announcement came in the form of a tweet that read, “NEWS- Jasprit Bumrah to lead Team India for the fifth Test match against England.” The tweet also announced that “Rishabh Pant will be the captain.”
NEWS 🚨 - @Jaspritbumrah93 to lead #TeamIndia in the fifth Test Match against England.@RishabhPant17 will be the vice-captain for the match.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ueWXfOMz1L
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 30, 2022
Earlier it was suspected among cricket fans that Rishabh Pant would be handed over the captaincy for the Indian Test side having been done the same in the India- South Africa T20I series. Many felt however that his captaincy in the recently concluded T20I series wasn't up to the mark and it would be premature to hand him Test captaincy so early.
Jasprit’s announcement as captain was pre-suggested on the fourth day of India- Leicestershire warm-up when the right-arm pacer led the Indian team into the ground. Many saw this as a sign of Bumrah’s promotion in the seniority ranks and that is what it turned out to be.
The fifth Test was originally announced to be played in the Old Trafford in 2021, but was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. India currently leads the five-match Test series by 2-1 and this match would be a golden opportunity for the England side to draw the series. The India- England 5th Test is going to be played in Birmingham on July 1st.