Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday gave a big update on the health of Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who has been found to be Corona positive, ahead of the Edgbaston Test against England. Talking to the media in the virtual press conference, Dravid told whether Rohit Sharma will be available for the fifth Test or not? The captain of Team India was found to be COVID positive during the practice match against Leicestershire. The coach indicated that Cheteshwar Pujara may open the innings along with Shubman Gill if Rohit is not in the playing 11.
Rahul Dravid said in the virtual press conference, “Rohit is being monitored by our medical team. He is not being considered out, but his test report must come negative. They will have another Test tonight and then tomorrow morning as well. After that let’s see. I could not meet him as he is in isolation, but we are monitoring his condition. ,
Earlier it was reported that regular captain Rohit Sharma will not be able to play in the fifth Test against England after being found corona positive again. Jasprit Bumrah will captain in his place. Asked whether Bumrah will be the captain, Dravid said, “It is good if the information comes from official sources. I don’t know where Chetan (chief selector Chetan Sharma) is but official sources will give some information once Rohit’s position is clarified. it is not my business.”
Cheteshwar Pujara along with Shubman Gill could open the innings if Rohit is not in the playing XI despite Mayank Agarwal being called as cover. He said, “We will decide. We will look at many things. Obviously Mayank is a regular opener batsman. We have other options as well. Bharat opened several matches for Andhra and he showed in the practice match that he is batting brilliantly at the moment. He scored 70 and 40 (43) while opening the batting. We asked him to open keeping a lot of things in mind.
Regarding Pujara, Dravid said, “Pujara has a lot of quality batsmen. He has opened for India in the past as well. Like I said, we are clear in the direction we are going. We will see what happens with Rohit, but I am not at liberty to reveal the playing XI. But we are clear.”
Dravid says he wants match-winning performance from Virat Kohli, even if it doesn’t come with a century. “Players go through different phases and I don’t think Virat lacks motivation or passion. The emphasis should not always be on the century. The 79 against South Africa in Cape Town in tough conditions was also fine. He didn’t reach triple digits, but it was a fine innings. He has set such a high standard that people consider a century a success, but from a coach’s point of view I want match-winning contribution from him, whether it is 50 or 60.