Rishabh Pant or Jasprit Bumrah to captain India for England series in absence of COVID positive Rohit Sharma

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant or pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead Team India in the upcoming ahead of the fifth Test against England after skipper Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19.

With KL Rahul too out of the squad with injury, the burden of captaincy will fall on Pant or Bumrah.

The Test match is scheduled to begin from July 1 in Birmingham and if Rohit remains in six-day isolation, either Bumrah or Pant will stand in as captain.

Earlier, BCCI said that Rohit has tested positive for the virus.

"Team India captain Mr Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday," BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said in a media release.

"He is currently in isolation at the team hotel and is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team. An RT-PCR test will be conducted on Sunday to ascertain his CT value," the release added.

Rohit had batted on first day of the ongoing warm-up game against Leicestershire but didn't take field on the second day. He did not bat in the second Indian innings.

The 35-year-old Indian skipper is expected to open the innings alongside Shubman Gill in the Test match and his participation would now depend on result of his RT-PCR test and recovery.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had also joined the squad in England late since he had also tested positive for COVID-19 before the team left for the UK tour.

The matches are not played under a bio-bubble in the UK now. India too hosted South Africa recently without a bio-bubble.