Seven members of the Indian Cricket Team has been infected with the COVID-19

The Indian Cricket Team lost to South Africa in the recent SA tour of the Test and ODI series. The side was led by KL Rahul as Rohit Sharma was unavailable and Virat Kohli stepped down from the red-ball captaincy amid the matches. Now, the ICT is set to take on the mighty West Indies who are touring India for a three-match ODI series.

On February 2, the BCCI has issued an official statement confirming that seven members of the Indian cricket team – four players and three support staff members – had tested positive for Covid-19. According to the statement, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and the reserve bowler Navdeep Saini are the players to have been infected by the coronavirus. Allegedly, the left-arm bowler Axar Patel also has tested positive for COVID but he is yet to join the team at Ahmedabad.

The other three support staff members are fielding coach T Dilip, security liaison officer B Lokesh and sports massage therapist Rajeev Kumar. Following this, the opening batter Mayank Agarwal has been added to the 18-member India squad that will begin its six limited-overs matches (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is) against West Indies. Also, the vice-captain KL Rahul has not yet joined the India squad and is set to miss the first ODI to attend his sister’s wedding.

The first ODI kickstarts on Sunday, February 6 at Ahmedabad and the remaining matches are set to take place on February 6, 8 and 11 while the T20Is will be played in Kolkata on February 16, 18 and 20. But the infected players will aim to be back for the T20I leg of the series. On the other hand, India has defeated Australia to qualify for the finals against England in the Under 19 World Cup 2022.