Shikhar & Shreyas Among 4 Indian Players to Test Positive Ahead of WI ODIs

India is slated to play West Indies in a three-match ODI series starting Monday.

Image: BCCI

The Indian men's cricket camp in Ahmedabad has been hit by Covid-19 with four players and three members of the support staff testing positive, the BCCI announced in a press statement released late on Wednesday night.

Mayank Agarwal has been called in as cover for the ODI series against West Indies that is slated to start on Monday, with the next two fixtures on Wednesday and Friday. All three games are to be played in Ahmedabad.

Notably, the Indian team has been staying at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Ahmedabad since Monday, where the West Indian team and match officials are also camped, but on separate floors. According to the BCCI's rules, the team was to undergo a three-day quarantine before starting their training sessions.

'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 BCCI said in their press statement.

The board then listed out the players and support staff who had tested positive over the last three days.

• Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and fast bowler Navdeep Saini’s (standby player) RT-PCR tests conducted on Monday (January 31^st) have returned positive results.

• Fielding Coach T. Dilip and Security Liaison Officer B. Lokesh’s RT-PCR tests conducted on Monday (January 31^st) have returned positive results.

• Batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad’s RT-PCR test conducted on Tuesday (February 1^st) has returned a positive result. He had tested negative during the first round of testing on Monday.

• Batsman Shreyas Iyer and Sports Massage Therapist Rajeev Kumar’s RT-PCR tests conducted on Wednesday (February 2^nd) have returned positive results. Both had tested negative in the first two rounds of testing.