‘Dravid announced I’ll be leading India': Bumrah on replacing Rohit Sharma as captain for 5th Test vs England

Jasprit Bumrah will be the seventh Indian captain in just seven months since Rahul Dravid's appointment as the head coach.

Jasprit Bumrah on Thursday was named the captain of the Indian team after all-format skipper Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the delayed fifth Test against England. The team management was sweating over Rohit, who had contracted Covid-19 during the four-day practice game against Leicestershire. Bumrah will now lead the team against a strong England camp that is fresh from a 3-0 demolition versus world Test champions New Zealand.

India's stand-in-captain Jasprit Bumrah  (AP)

Bumrah will be the seventh Indian captain in just seven months since Rahul Dravid's appointment as the head coach. Dravid had Shikhar Dhawan when he first took over the team to Sri Lanka for a limited-overs assignment. He has now witnessed Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Bumrah in the leadership role.

Bumrah, who steps in the big shoes of World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, described leading the Test side as the biggest achievement of his career.

"It's huge achievement, a huge honour. When I started playing, Test cricket was a dream. To lead India is the biggest achievement of my career so far," said Bumrah on the eve of the Edgbaston Test.

One of the finest fast bowlers in the modern era, Bumrah said he was informed about captaining the side by head coach Rahul Dravid after Rohit tested positive on Thursday as well.

"We were waiting for an announcement because we were waiting for Rohit's confirmation. We did a test today (Thursday) morning as well so he tested positive in that test. Then, there was a discussion with the coach [Dravid] and he announced that I will be leading the side."

Earlier, Dravid said that India will make a last-minute decision on Rohit, adding that the team management will give him every chance to play.

"He's not yet been ruled out," Dravid said. "We've still got close to 36 hours to go, so he'll have a test Wednesday night and one Thursday morning as well. Then we'll see."

"It's really up to the medical team to decide on that. We've not had a chance to see him as he's in isolation, but we'll keep monitoring that situation."

Notably, fellow opener KL Rahul is already out of the Test series with a groin injury. Rohit was India's leading run-scorer in England last year, scoring 368 runs in four matches, including 127 at the Oval. Rahul has also made 315 runs in the overseas Test assignment.

The upcoming clash is a rescheduled finale of the series that took place last year when India postponed the last Test due to Covid concerns. The tourists lead 2-1.