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India captain Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently in quarantine. This has also raised concerns about his availability for the fifth rescheduled Test against England. If Rohit fails to recover in time, India will be short of an opening batter as well as a captain. While the BCCI has named Mayank Agarwal had added to the Test squad as Rohit’s cover, the board is yet to announce the captain for the Test in Hitman’s absence.
Speculations are rife that Virat Kohli, the former captain of the Indian Test team who was also the captain when the Indians toured England last year, may take up the leadership role in Rohit’s absence. However, the batter’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma thinks the opposite. Kohli's coach believes that he may not captain the side as he himself resigned from the post earlier this year.
"He was not sacked or removed, he himself left the captaincy. So, I don't think I will see him leading again. I'm not very sure what the selectors or the BCCI will decide? Virat is a team-man and wants India to do well and contribute to the team, which I think he's doing very well," the 57-year-old said.
He is not under pressure at all: Rajkumar Sharma
Kohli’s childhood coach further talked about the batter’s barren run in terms of scoring a century. He opined that Kohli is not under pressure and is happy till he is contributing to the team’s win. "No, he is not at all under pressure. Contributing to the team and India's victory is more important for him rather than getting his hundred. He never goes after records. So, as long as he's doing well and is contributing well with the bat, he is not worried about his personal milestone," Rajkumar told IANS in an interview.
Notably, the 33-year-old Kohli has gone more than 100 innings in all forms of cricket including IPL without scoring a hundred since hitting 136 in Kolkata against Bangladesh in November 2019.