Taroba (Trinidad). India U-19 captain Yash Dhul, vice-captain Sheikh Rashid and four of their teammates have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing them to miss the World Cup Group B match against Ireland here on Wednesday. . This has dealt a big blow to India’s campaign. Apart from Dhul and Rashid, batsmen Aaradhya Yadav, Vasu Vats, Manav Parakh and Siddharth Yadav have also been found infected with the virus, due to which the Indian team could barely field 11 players against Ireland.
An official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told PTI, “Three players from India were found positive yesterday and had already been sent to isolation. In the morning before the match our captain and vice-captain also tested positive for rapid antigen test which was not conclusive.”
“So as a precaution, he was dropped from the match. These players also include captain Yash Dhul and vice-captain Sheikh Rashid. We have only 11 players available and six players are in isolation.
Dhul and Rashid had played in the first match against South Africa but Aradhya was not a part of that match. In Dhul’s absence, Nishant Sindhu is leading the team against Ireland on Wednesday. India played its first match in Guyana and came to Trinidad for the match against Ireland. The players are suspected to have been infected during their stay in Guyana. India have to take on Uganda on Saturday and it has to be seen whether this match is organized or not.
A BCCI source said, “If all the players stay in isolation then some standby players may get a place in the main team. We will have to wait as three cases are for rapid antigen test. Hope his RT PCR test will come negative.
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India had announced a 16-man squad for the tournament and picked five standby players. The standby players are in India as the ICC has allowed only 17 players. They will have to be sent to the Caribbean for the tournament. The mandatory isolation period for COVID positive players is 10 days and all players currently undergoing isolation will be out till the knockout stage of the tournament. If India makes it to the knockouts, they will be able to play in the quarter-finals on January 29. “We expect the result to be negative by then,” a BCCI source said.
Ahead of the start of the tournament, Alex Marshall, head of the International Cricket Council’s Integrity Unit, had said that a positive PCR test result in the team does not mean that the match will automatically be postponed or cancelled. “The main principle is to continue playing with due caution if it is safe and practical,” he had said.
The ICC has constituted a Biosafe Scientific Advisory Group (BSAG) to deal with all issues related to the biologically safe environment. The task of this group is to ensure that any issue related to COVID-19 is properly dealt with, for which independent expert scientific and medical advice is received. (agency)