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England have announced the sqaud for the rescheduled fifth Test match against India set to begin this Friday. While the Three Lions will be fresh from a 3-0 clean sweep over New Zealand with the final Test ending on Monday, Team India have played their only warm-up game and are gearing up for the Test match with their captain Rohit Sharma recovering from COVID-19.
The hosts have added Sam Billings to the squad officially after he was named as a reserve for the Test matches against New Zealand. Billings had to replace Ben Foakes who also contracted Coronavirus in the third Test.
As far as the visitors are concerned, with only a few days remaining before the start of the Birmingham Test, India have named Mayank Agarwal as a cover for Rohit. However, there is still hope that the Hitman may recover in time and open the batting in the final Test. Other than his spot at the top of the order, Team India will also be in a fix to choose the captain, in case Rohit does not test negative for COVID-19 before the start of the game.
While KL Rahul is not available for the tour, it could be a toss-up between Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah to lead in the fifth Test match. Although a few reports have suggested Virat Kohli might have to return as the captain, his childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has ruled out this possibility.
England's squad for 5th Test against India: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings (wk), Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (wk), Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Matty Potts, Joe Root.