India Under-19 skipper Yash Dhull and his deputy Sheikh Rasheed and four of their teammates are doubtful for the Uganda game of the U-19 World Cup 2022 due to COVID-19.
Batter Aaradhya Yadav, Vasu Vats, Manav Parakh, and Siddharth Yadav were also found infected with the virus, because of which India barely managed to field an XI against Ireland. Nishant Sindhu led the team in the absence of Dhull.
“Three Indian players had tested positive yesterday and were already isolated. In the morning before the match our captain and vice captain also tested positive in the Rapid Antigen Test which is not (not considered) conclusive,” a BCCI official told PTI.
“So they, as a precautionary measure, were pulled out. The players included skipper Yash Dhull and his deputy Shaikh Rasheed. We only had 11 available players and six isolated,” the official added.
Their health concerns have put their participation in doubt for the Uganda game and it will only be known by Friday evening which of the affected players will be available for the contest against Uganda when RT-PCR reports on five of them will be revealed.
BCCI has announced five players who’ll be a backup for the COVID-19 tested players in the West Indies.
“The team management will take the final call if any of them will have to be included in the official squad,” a BCCI official close to the development confirmed to Cricbuzz on Friday.
Uday Saharan (Rajasthan), Abhishek Porel (Bengal), Rishith Reddy (Hyderabad), Ansh Gosai (Saurashtra), and Pushpendra Singh Rathore (Rajasthan) are set to join the India squad at the U-19 World Cup 2022 as a backup for those who have been quarantined after testing COVID-19 positive. Four of the five backup players, barring Porel, were among the reserves announced at the time the squad was picked last month. These five players will leave to join depleted India’s U-19 squad for the ongoing U-19 World Cup. They’ll reach Antigua on Saturday to serve the mandatory six-day quarantine.
