CRICKET

Four Indian players Covid positive ahead of Windies series

Shikhar Dhawan plays a shot during an one-day international against Sri Lanka in Colombo. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Sattwik Biswal

FOUR Indian players, including senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan, have tested positive for coronavirus ahead of the home series against the West Indies, the country’s cricket board said on Wednesday (2).

Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and Navdeep Saini (standby player) returned positive tests along with three support staff members with the first of the three one-day matches starting Sunday (6).

Batsman Mayank Agarwal has been added to the ODI squad, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in statement.

The players and staff who have tested positive will remain in isolation.

The Indian team, led by new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma, assembled in Ahmedabad on Monday (31) for the three ODI and three Twenty20 matches.

The ODIs will be played at the world’s biggest stadium in Ahmedabad while Kolkata’s Eden Gardens will host the T20 matches.

India has seen confirmed Covid cases slow in the ongoing Omicron variant outbreak but still announced more than 160,000 new infections on Wednesday (2).

(AFP)