India vs England: Everyone is worried about Rohit Sharma’s availability, says Zaheer Khan

With COVID-19 stricken India captain Rohit Sharma uncertain for the upcoming England Test in Birmingham on Friday, former pacer Zaheer Khan feels the team will have to find a way to cope up without him given he had a big role to play with the bat.

The 35-year-old opener tested COVID-19 positive during India’s warm-up game at Leicestershire but is not ruled out of the Test yet. Mayank Agarwal was added to the team as a backup as mystery remains over India’s opening combination.

“Everyone is worried about Rohit Sharma’s availability for the fifth Test. Apart from captaining the side, he was also expected to play a major role as a batter. He made significant contributions in the first four fixtures of this series,” said former fast bowler Zaheer Khan on Cricbuzz.

“KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma were the top performers with the bat against England last year. They were able to give the middle-order a good platform to build on by giving the side good starts. KL Rahul has also been ruled out of the tour and India will miss him,” he further said.

While it is not announced yet who will lead India in case Rohit doesn’t make it in time, rumours are ripe that the team’s senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah may go in as the stand-in captain for the game. The speculation definitely excites Khan as the 43-year-old retired cricketer bills the fellow pacer as the right man for the job while terming him as the player England need to watch out for.

“If (Rohit) is not there, Bumrah could be captaining the team for the first time. If you ask me about the player to watch out for during the final Test, it is Jasprit Bumrah. I am sure Bumrah must have been thinking about the possibility of captaining the team ever since Rohit tested positive and that brings a different kind of alertness and responsibility, which only works well for the player. In that way, for this match he is the player to watch out for,” said Zaheer.