After the Apex Council Meeting on Thursday, July 21, 2022, Sourav Ganguly, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), informed reporters in Mumbai that KL Rahul, India’s senior batter, had tested positive for COVID-19.
The vice-captain of Team India will miss the series after receiving medical attention at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He recently underwent surgery in Germany and returned there after recovery.
Rahul was not selected for the T20I series against the West Indies but was rested for the ODI series beginning on Friday (July 22) at the Port of Spain. He was also not selected for the England tour, the South Africa home series, or the Ireland away series inspite of having a strong IPL season.
On July 29, Trinidad will host the opening match of the T20I series versus the West Indies. The profile India opener, though, is probably going to miss the 1st T20I.
Rahul spoke to the candidates at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru’s Level-3 coach certification programme on Thursday itself. Former Indian batter and NCA head VVS Laxman had also tweeted regarding the same, thanking Rahul for addressing the candidates who attended the certification course.
In the scenario that the star batter misses the series, here’s a list of players who will be in contention to replace the LSG batter:
1.Ishan Kishan: The MI batsman will probably replace him as the opening partner of skipper Rohit Sharma. This is also the most logical choice as both Rahul and Kishan are wicketkeeper-batsman.
2. Arshdeep Singh: The promising youngster had a fabulous IPL season. As the World Cup gets closer, India may want to try their bench strength. Arshdeep hasn’t played much unlike Prasidh Krishna, because a slight niggle kept him out of the England ODI series. Which makes Arshdeep is the only bowler from the Ireland tour party to have not got a game yet. The Punjab Kings bowler also has more experience bowling in the powerplay than Harshal Patel. So, he may be a really good contender if the management wants to test the bench strength.
3. Axar Patel: As Ravindra Jadeja was already in the squad, it was very unlikely that Patel would have gotten a place in the team. But Rahul’s absence may push the management to add the allrounder to not only provide a deep batting lineup, but also a handy spinner
Between July 22 and August 7, India will play West Indies in 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is. The final Twenty20 International games will be held in the USA.
The BCCI president also disclosed that a member of India’s women’s team, which is headed to the Commonwealth Games, tested positive for the virus and is currently being monitored. He, however, did not disclose the name of the player.
