India to leave Rohit decision until last minute

India will make a last-minute decision on Covid-hit captain Rohit Sharma’s availability for Friday’s Test against England.

Rohit has been in isolation since testing positive for Covid-19 last week.

There have been reports that India’s team management will use fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as stand-in captain at Edgbaston this week.

The clash is a rescheduled finale of the series that took place last year when India postponed the last Test due to Covid concerns, with the tourists leading 2-1.

Rohit’s presence would be a huge boost to their hopes of sealing a series victory over in-form England, who recently crushed Test world champions New Zealand 3-0.

But the call on his fitness will not come until the last moment, according to India head coach Raul Dravid.

“The update on Rohit is that he’s being monitored by our medical team — he’s not yet been ruled out,” Dravid said on Wednesday.

“He needs to get the negative test to be available. We’ll keep monitoring that. We’ve still got close to 36 hours to go, so he’ll have a test Wednesday night and one Thursday morning as well. Then we’ll see.

“It’s really up to the medical team to decide on that. We’ve not had a chance to see him as he’s in isolation, but we’ll keep monitoring that situation.”

Asked about the potential for Bumrah to take over from Rohit on a short-term basis, Dravid added: “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 communication.”