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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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“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.