3 months ago. Trinidad and Tobago

U-19 World Cup: India's campaign rocked by five COVID-19 positive cases

India are set to take on Uganda on January 22 at Tarouba, Trinidad
Five Indian players have been ruled out of this game
Indian team has already qualified for the U-19 World Cup

India U-19 team’s campaign in the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup in the West Indies has been rocked by five COVID-19 positive cases. Five Indian cricketers, including captain Yash Dhull, tested positive for the deadly virus which ruled them out of India’s game against Uganda. Out of the six players, who were isolated before the match against Ireland on Wednesday, only all-rounder Vasu Vats tested negative, reported PTI.

Also Read: Harbhajan Singh tests positive for COVID-19; requests contacts to get tested

The team, which has already qualified for the quarterfinals, is set to take on Uganda in the final Group B game on Saturday in Tarouba, Trinidad.

Skipper Dhull, Aaradhya Yadav and Shaik Rasheed, who had tested positive in the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), have returned positive reports in the RT-PCR test along with Manav Parakh, who tested negative in RAT.

Also Read: ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022: Full list of fixtures

Sidharth Yadav had already tested positive in the RT-PCR test before the Ireland game.

“One positive out of this unfortunate situation is that the 11 who played against Ireland have all tested negative,” said the ICC source.

Also Read: Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s massive feat in 1st ODI vs South Africa

Among the infected, Dhull has the worst symptoms but he along with the other players, “should be fine” before their quarterfinal on January 29 provided they top Group B.

India qualified for knockouts

India registered a thumping win over Ireland to qualify for the knockouts after barely managing to field a team in the wake of the COVID outbreak in their camp.

Also Read: 925: Days Jasprit Bumrah took to take a wicket in powerplay

All the infected players are required to undergo five days of isolation as per tournament protocols and can only rejoin the team after returning three negative tests within that period.

Bio bubble breached

After winning the Asia Cup in the UAE, the Indian team had flown to the Caribbean via Amsterdam. A support staff member, who is fine now, had tested positive during the hard quarantine upon arrival in Guyana after catching the infection in transit and it is believed the players contracted the virus from him.

Also Read: On this day: India breach fortress Gabba for historic Test series win vs Australia

The entire squad underwent a five-day hard quarantine in Guyana upon arrival and took three RTPCR tests within that period. However, with the test report taking as long as 48 hours, the third test report was only made available on the seventh day.

“The players mingled with the coach in that period and that seems be to be most likely source of outbreak in the team,” added the source.

Also Read: KL Rahul to lead Lucknow franchise in IPL 2022 : Report

It has also been learnt that the tournament’s bio-bubble could be stricter with team not being allocated dedicated floors in the hotel as it was the Asia Cup in the UAE.

Also Read: ‘Superhero’, ‘epitome of leadership’: Indian pacers pay tributes to Kohli

“The players mingled with the coach in that period and that seems be to be most likely source of outbreak in the team,” added the source.

It has also been learnt that the tournament’s bio-bubble could be stricter with team not being allocated dedicated floors in the hotel as it was the Asia Cup in the UAE.

#IndianCricketTeam #covid19 #ICC #WorldCup #YashDhull #WestIndies

U-19 World Cup: India's campaign rocked by five COVID-19 positive cases

Trending on Opoyi