With as many as seven players in the Indian camp testing positive for Covid-19, the first ODI between India and West Indies on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad may be postponed.
Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Navdeep Saini (Stand-by), and Axar Patel (Yet to land in Ahmedabad) all tested positive for Covid-19, as did support staff members Therapist Rajeev Kumar, Fielding coach T Dilip, and security liaison officer B Lokesh.
“Three players — Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan have tested positive. However, there are multiple COVID positive cases among non-coaching administrative support staff. It could be between two to four people,” a veteran BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Currently, the entire team is in isolation and all those who have tested positive have been moved to a different floor in the hotel. The practice session of the team scheduled for today has been cancelled.
“For now the series will be played as per schedule. But if more positive cases come out today or tomorrow, we can push the start by a day or two. We will be flexible about that”, a BCCI official said.
According to reports, the members were asked to reach Ahmedabad on January 31 for the upcoming Paytm three-match ODI and T20I series. Every member was asked to undergo an RT-PCR test at home before starting their journey to Ahmedabad and the travel was undertaken only after testing negative.
With the ouster of the players tested positive and even regular vice-captain KL Rahul, unavailable for the first ODI, it is surely a major blow for the home team. The cricket board has, however, added Mayank Agarwal to the squad as a backup.
As far as the series is concerned, India is scheduled to play the first of three ODIs at the Narendra Modi Stadium from February 6. They will then play three T20Is at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, starting on February 16.
India’s current ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mayank Agarwal.