Four Indian team members along with four support staff tested positive with the Covid19 virus at their camp in Ahmedabad ahead of the ODI series against West Indies starting from February 6. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that all the contracted members are in isolation and BCCI medical staff is keeping an eye on them.
“The infected players have been isolated along with the three support staff members. The BCCI is monitoring the situation,” a Board official confirmed.
Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad along with batter Shreyas Iyer and standby player Navdeep Saini have tested positive in the RT-PCR test for Covid19. The list of Covid19 positives at the Indian camp also includes the names of three support staff members.
The sports body conducted three rounds of RT-PCR tests on January 31, February 1 and February 2. According to the reports, Dhawan and Saini’s results came positive after the first round of tests whereas Gaikwad and Iyer tested positive in the next two rounds respectively.
On the other hand, fielding Coach T. Dilip and Security Liaison Officer B. Lokesh’s RT-PCR tests were also conducted on Monday (January 31) and returned positive. Gaikwad was tested negative after Monday’s round but became positive in Tuesday’s (February 1) test. Shreyas Iyer and Sports Massage Therapist Rajeev Kumar, who had tested negative in the first two rounds, tested positive on Wednesday (February 2).
Following this development, BCCI on Wednesday announced the inclusion of Mayank Agarwal in the squad for the upcoming series.
“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,” BCCI’s statement read.
It has also been reported that Axar Patel, who is part of the T20I squad, could not join the Indian team in Ahmedabad as he too tested positive for Covid19. The team’s throwdown specialist Raghu also could not join the team due to the same reason.
With so many Covid19 cases at the camp, the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) has decided to stage the ODI series behind closed doors.
“We are all set to host the West Indies Tour of India ODI Series 2022. The 1st ODI on the 6th of Feb will be a very special and historic match as India will be playing its 1000th ODI. The Indian team will be the first cricket team in the world to achieve this feat. Considering the current situation, all the matches will be played behind closed doors,” the state cricket body had tweeted.
Initially, the venues for the ODI and T20I series were Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Cuttack, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram. However, BCCI decided to limit the venues to Ahmedabad for ODIs and Kolkata for T20Is as a part of the Covid19 risk management strategy.
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