Virat Kohli To Lead India Against England In Rescheduled 5th Test? Here’s What This England Star Has To Say

The fifth rescheduled Test between India and England will start on July 1 but there’s no clarity on Rohit Sharma’s participation. The Indian skipper is under isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. With vice-captain KL Rahul also out injured, the question remains as to who will lead the team against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Rohit was named as India’s all-format captain after Virat Kohli had stepped down from the role, following the Test series defeat in South Africa.

If Rohit fails to recover on time, the management might hand over the captaincy to either pacer Jasprit Bumrah or wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who recently led the team during the five-match T20I series against South Africa.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali said that he would give the captaincy back to Kohli for this game, but pointed out that the latter will have to take the final call.

“It’s a tough one. I was thinking about this last night. Because Virat was captain before of the same series last year, I would probably give it to him, yeah, for this one game. But it’s obviously his call. He probably won’t want to do it. He is happy, his mind is relaxed and saying ‘I’m never captaining (in) Test cricket again’. So that can be also difficult but yeah, I think it’s a good idea. He has got the experience and it’s a big series for India,” Moeen told Sports Today.

With Kohli at the helm, India were leading the five-match series 2-1 before the final Test was postponed due to a Covid outbreak in the Indian camp.

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Moeen, however, feels that England might have the upper hand over India after the Ben Stokes-led side completed a a 3-0 clean sweep of New Zealand recently.

“If this series was finished last year, India would have won 3-1, but now, I feel the way England have played I think India might be slightly undercooked, due to the lack of cricket in England. If England come out the way they have played in the last few games, England will be the favourites,” he further stated.