Leads: England are playing a Test series against New Zealand (ENG vs NZ). Prior to this series, the English team was losing consecutive matches in Tests. The Cricket Board then appointed former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum as head coach. Now his impact on the team is clearly visible. In the last match, Johnny Bairstow batted brilliantly in the fourth innings to give the team the victory. Now Jo Root was also seen in McCullum mode.

Root played a reverse sweep
Jo Root is known for playing decent cricketing shots but in this match he hit a reverse sweep against New Zealand fast bowler Neil Wagner. Wagner bowled the last ball of the 22nd over off stump. Root swept the reverse and sent the ball to the boundary line above the third man. No one could believe his sixes.

The English team was not losing consistently
Before Brendon McCullum became the coach, the England team was constantly struggling in Test cricket. The team lost the Test series against the West Indies. Earlier, Australia had beaten England 4-0 in the Ashes series. The English team was also trailing 2-1 in the five-match series against India which was postponed after 4 matches last year. But since McCullum’s arrival the team has won two matches in a row.

296 runs target
England have a target of 296 runs to sweep the series clean by winning the third Test. By stumps on the fourth day, the team has scored 183 runs for 2 wickets. New Zealand’s innings was reduced to 326 runs. England scored 360 in reply to New Zealand’s 329 in the first innings. In the second innings, England were once again upset by Tom Blundell and Darrell Mitchell. The two had a 113-run partnership. The two had a partnership of 195 at Lord’s and 236 at Trend Bridge.

Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has been found to be Covid-19 positive ahead of the 5th Test against England from July 1. If he doesn’t fit in after the Test starts in just 4 days, it will be a major setback for the Indian team. India are currently 2-1 up in the series and will make history if the Birmingham Test is drawn or won.

Well, Rohit Sharma, a victim of Kovid-19, is once again questioning whether the players of Team India are showing negligence in England. Recently, photos with fans of Rohit Sharma and former India captain Virat Kohli went viral. The picture claimed that Fence had interviewed the two in England together. There are no masks on the faces of both the senior players in the picture.

In another photo, Virat Kohli in shorts is seen walking the streets of England alone. These pictures show that the Indian team is not very careful about the epidemic Kovid-19. Now, it would not be a surprise if any Indian player other than Rohit falls for Kovid. Rohit was part of Team India in the practice match and was with all the players, so Team India is likely to face one or more coward cases.

There is no doubt that this last match of the Test series between India and England, the ODI and T20 series is not being played in Covid Protocol i.e. BioBubble. But it is the responsibility of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as captains and seniors in the team to not only keep themselves fit but also focus on the other players in the team.

Notably, Virat Kohli was found to be positive after spending holidays in Maldives. However, the news came much later. Team India’s leading spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, fell victim to Kovid before leaving for England. Because of this he had to stay in Mumbai.

Senior Indian cricketers Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been out of form for some time. At the same time KL Rahul is running out of the team due to injury. In such a situation, Ishaan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaekwad, who started the innings, were given the opportunity to replace him in the T20 series against South Africa.

Ishaan and Gaekwad were also given a chance against Ireland, but when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to the limited overs series against England, both of them may have to go out.

Former cricketer Saba Karim had a special conversation with Hindustan Times in this regard and said that now the team management needs to show strictness towards senior players. If he is not in form and is struggling to make a run then new players should be given his place.

Saba Karim said, “The selectors will have to make a very difficult decision in the next series. Because when Rohit, Virat and Rahul return to the playing XI, any three players will have to sit out.

“Rohit, Virat and Rahul have a lot of experience in limited overs cricket. These three players can change the course of the match whenever they want, but currently the competition has become tough. In such a situation the team management or selectors need to have a close dialogue with them.

In fact, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have not been in their rhythm for some time. Even in the Indian Premier League, the performance of these two was not as expected. At the same time, KL Rahul batted brilliantly for the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL but then got injured. Because of this he was excluded from touring South Africa, Ireland and England.

Since then, there has been a lot of discussion about these three players and questions are going to arise about their place in the team in the near future.