Ind vs Eng: In Rohit's absence, Bumrah leads India on final day of warm-up match; Ashwin returns to action

The Indian cricket team were hit with a major blow on Saturday as skipper Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19. This has severely hampered India's preparation for the massive one-off Test against England which is set to begin on Friday (July 1) at Edgbaston with the Indian captain's participation in major doubt for the big clash.

With Rohit's opening partner and India's vice-captain KL Rahul also ruled out of the match due to a groin injury, there are question marks on who will lead the visitors in the game. However, the final day of play in India's ongoing warm-up clash against Leicestershire at Grace Road has given a major hint that Jasprit Bumrah could end up taking charge for the Test match in Birmingham as he has currently taking charge of the team.

It is worth remembering that Bumrah was named vice-captain of the Indian Test team when Virat Kohli and Rohit's injury meant KL Rahul will lead the team against South Africa in the Johannesburg Test. Bumrah was also the deputy to Rahul and Rohit in the ODI series against South Africa and Test series against Sri Lanka respectively despite Rishabh Pant's presence in the squad. Hence, if the selection committee and team management stick to the leadership hierarchy, Bumrah should make his captaincy debut in the upcoming Test match. However, Pant led India for the first time in the five-match T20I series against South Africa.

Meanwhile, in a major boost to Team India, Ravichandran Ashwin took the field for the first time on Day 4 of the warm-up clash against Leicestershire. Ashwin had travelled to England late after testing positive for COVID-19.

Talking about Rohit, he is currently in isolation at the team hotel. While his Rapid Antigen Test returned a positive result, a RT-PCT test is set to be conducted on Sunday in order to determine the CT value of his infection. The Edgbaston Test is the final test of last year's incomplete series. India are currently leading it 2-1 with four out of five matches played.