The Indian head coach, Rahul Dravid has confirmed that Rohit Sharma, who tested positive recently for Covid-19, has not yet been officially ruled out of the rescheduled 5th Test against England in Edgbaston on Friday. Asked if Rohit is available or not, Dravid said the medical team has been monitoring the captain but did not confirm what the plan of action will be if he is not fit to play on time.

While addressing the media on Wednesday, Rahul Dravid said, “He’s being monitored by our medical team. He has not yet been ruled out. He needs to get the negative tests to be available. So we’ll keep monitoring that, as we still got those 36 hours or so to go. We’ll have a test later tonight as well and maybe one tomorrow morning as well. And then, he’ll have to come out of that and it’s really up to the medical team and the sports science team to decide on that.”

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Asked if Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the team, given that the original vice-captain KL Rahul is also not available for this match, Dravid said that call has to be taken by the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee.

Rahul Dravid said that there are multiple options available for India to try in the 5th Test. He did not rule out trying either of the three replacement options at the top. Earlier a source close to BCCI had said that Cheteshwar Pujara or Hanuma Vihari could get a promotion up the order.

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However, Rahul Dravid has not ruled out the possibility of Mayank Agarwal either. He also said that KS Bharat is a good option. He said, “Mayank is there. Bharat has opened for Andhra Pradesh. I would not want to give things away. But in our mind, we have our clarity, but I don’t have liberty to disclose my playing XI.”