Indian team was hit hard by the COVID-19 virus ahead of the ODI series against West Indies as four players and three support staff members have returned positive results in Ahmedabad.
Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and reserve seamer Navdeep Saini are the four players to test positive along with fielding coach T Dilip, security liason officer B Lokesh and massage therapist Rajeev Kumar.
All seven are now in isolation and will be monitored by the medical team until they recover completely. In a media release on Wednesday night (February 2), BCCI confirmed Mayank Agarwal has been added to the ODI squad and provided updates on the COVID-19 affected players and support staff.
Below is the Media Advisory posted by the Board on its official website.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added Mayank Agarwal to India’s ODI squad after seven members, including three players of Team India (Senior Men) tested positive for COVID-19 following three rounds of RT-PCR testing.
The members were asked to report in Ahmedabad on 31st January 2022 for the upcoming Paytm 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.
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.
The BCCI Medical team is handling the positive cases and they will remain in isolation till complete recovery is attained.”
India and West Indies are scheduled to play three ODIs on February 6, 9 and 11 in Ahmedabad, before moving to Kolkata for the T20Is on February 16, 18 and 20.
