A number of Indian cricketers, including Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad have tested positive for COVID-19 and have gone into isolation on an immediate basis. India are scheduled to lock horns with the West Indies in a full-fledged two-week bilateral limited-overs series and there’s a chance for the first ODI on February 6 […]
A number of Indian cricketers, including Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad have tested positive for COVID-19 and have gone into isolation on an immediate basis. India are scheduled to lock horns with the West Indies in a full-fledged two-week bilateral limited-overs series and there’s a chance for the first ODI on February 6 to be delayed.
The Indian players reached Ahmedabad on Monday, January 31 where they are scheduled to play three matches at the Narendra Modi Stadium. As per reports, the medical team of the the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keeping an eye on the development and is most likely to announce the replacements of the coronavirus infected cricketers.
It is not looking good in Ahmedabad. If the situation gets worse, the start of the ODI series could be delayed by a day or two.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) February 2, 2022
JUST IN: Three players and three support staff of Team India have tested positive for Covid-19 in Ahmedabad.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) February 2, 2022
While there are reports of as many as eight positive cases, only three have been confirmed so far amongst the players with three from the support staff also testing positive.
The detailed updates are as below:
1) Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and fast bowler Navdeep Saini’s (standby player) RT-PCR tests conducted on Monday (January 31st) have returned positive results.
2) Fielding Coach T. Dilip and Security Liaison Officer B. Lokesh’s RT-PCR tests conducted on Monday (January 31st) have returned positive results.
3) Batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad’s RT-PCR test conducted on Tuesday (February 1st) has returned a positive result. He had tested negative during the first round of testing on Monday.
4) Batsman Shreyas Iyer and Sports Massage Therapist Rajeev Kumar’s RT-PCR tests conducted on Wednesday (February 2nd) have returned positive results. Both had tested negative in the first two rounds of testing.
After Dhawan contracted the coronavirus, there is a chance for Venkatesh Iyer to open the batting along with skipper Rohit Sharma. Iyer made his T20I debut back in November 2021 during India’s home series against New Zealand. Although he didn’t produce any knock of substance, skipper Sharma backed him for further international assignments.
The southpaw made his ODI debut against South Africa in January and batted in the middle order. He played two games at the Boland Park in Paarl and managed to score 24 runs and failed to take a wicket as well. Iyer came to the fore after he performed brilliantly for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the second leg of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL).
In KKR, Iyer opened the batting and changed the complexion of KKR’s batting unit. On the back of his performance, the Knights played the final of the tournament against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) In Dhawan’s absence in the Indian team, Iyer has a decent chance to take the field as an opening batter.
As far as the upcoming series is concerned, apart from three ODIs in Ahmedabad, India will also lock horns with the West Indies in three T20Is. The 20-over matches will take place on Wednesday, February 16, Friday, February 18 and Sunday, February 20 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
UPDATE: Mayank Agarwal has been added to the ODI team.
