Four players - including batters Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and standby player Navdeep Saini - and three staff members of the senior India men's cricket team have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the ODI series against the West Indies.
Mayank Agarwal has been added to the team for the series.
The team had reached Ahmedabad on Monday and all players and staff were tested upon arrival. In a statement on Wednesday, Board secretary Jay Shah said, "The members were asked to report in Ahmedabad on 31st January 2022 for the upcoming three-match ODI and T20I series against the West Indies. Every member was also asked to undergo an RT-PCR test at home before embarking on their journey to Ahmedabad and the travel was undertaken only after testing negative."
While Dhawan and Saini’s took RT-PCR tests on Monday, results returned positive. Even fielding coach T. Dilip and security liaison officer B. Lokesh’s RT-PCR tests too returned positive. Gaikwad's report returned negative initially, but on Tuesday, he tested positive.
On Wednesday, batter Shreyas and sports massage therapist Rajeev Kumar’s RT-PCR tests returned positive. Both had tested negative in the first two rounds of testing.
All of them are currently in isolation and the BCCI medical team is monitoring the situation.
India is scheduled to play the first of three ODIs at the Narendra Modi Stadium on February 6. As of now, the Board officials are confident that the series will go ahead as per schedule. The three T20Is are scheduled to be held in Kolkata between February 16-20.
“As of now, the ODI series will go ahead as per schedule. We will get replacements. We have a 25-member squad (including the net bowlers), so we can also draft in a few players from there if needed. The selectors will announce replacements soon,” a Board official said.
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It is expected that M Shahrukh Khan, R Sai Kishore, Rishi Dhawan, who are stand by players for the series, may get a look in if needed.
"The Indian team is staying at a plush hotel in Ashram Road in Ahmedabad. With the COVID-19 outbreak, the players and support staff, who tested negative, have been shifted to a different floor. All of them are in isolation,” the official added, saying the players will undergo an RT-PCR test again on Thursday. If the results are negative, a decision will be taken on training schedule.
Spinner Axar Patel, who was part of the T20I team, too, has tested positive. He is currently at his home and could not join the team bubble in Ahmedabad.
February 6's ODI will be India's 1000th. However, Dhawan, Gaikwad and Iyer are set to give the ODI series a miss as they will have to undergo a week-long isolation and then return with two negative RT-PCR tests.
The West Indies team reached Ahmedabad early on Thursday and are in isolation.
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