Sharma did not bat on Saturday in India's second innings during their warm-up match against Leicestershire and is now in self-isolation. Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement on their official website: "Team India captain Mr Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday.
Rohit was involved in India's ongoing tour game against Leicestershire but didn't bat on Day 3 of India's second innings. He opened the batting in the first dig and made 25 before being dismissed by Roman Walker.
He now faces a race against time in order to make the rescheduled Test against England at Edgbaston that starts on July 1. India are already without their other regular opener KL Rahul, who is down with a groin injury.
Rohit was India's best batsman over four Tests last year before the final Test had to be rescheduled due to Covid-19 concerns in the Indian camp. He aggregated 368 runs at an average of 52.27 including a hundred at The Oval. India lead the series 2-1 and need to avoid defeat in the final Test to clinch their first Test series win in England since 2007.
It is unclear who will lead India in case Rohit is unavailable for the England Test. KL Rahul was appointed vice-captain by the selectors when the squad was announced in May, but he is not in England after picking up a groin injury before the home T20I series against South Africa recently. The BCCI has not yet given any update on Rahul's fitness and is yet to name a deputy to Rohit.
The selectors have earmarked Rahul as the long-term captaincy option. Rahul led India in the second Test on the South Africa tour in December-January after Virat Kohli pulled out due a back injury. In March, injury ruled out Rahul from selection for the two-match Test series at home against Sri Lanka, prompting the selectors to give the vice-captaincy to Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah, though, has no captaincy experience at any level. It could not be confirmed whether the selectors would look at Kohli as an interim captain for the one-off Test. The one-off Test is the conclusion of the series from last year which was suspended after a Covid-19 outbreak in the India team.
A BCCI statement, concerning Rohit's Covid result, said: "Team India captain Mr Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19 following a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on Saturday. He is currently in isolation at the team hotel and is under the care of the BCCI Medical Team. An RT-PCR test will be conducted on Sunday to ascertain his CT value."
The news of Rohit's positive test came through after the third day's play of the warm-up match against Leicestershire. He had made 25 in the first innings before not batting in the second.
Previously, R Ashwin's arrival on the tour was delayed after he tested positive before leaving India.
New Zealand have had to deal with a number of Covid-19 cases during their ongoing Test tour while England batting coach Marcus Trescothick has been absent from the Headingley match after testing positive.
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