New Delhi. Barring the trio of Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer, all players of the Indian team started practice at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday after their RT-PCR test came negative. Although Mayank Agarwal has joined the team, he will be available only on match day as his mandatory three-day quarantine has begun. Meanwhile, there is news that Ishan Kishan has been included in the team for the ODI matches.
India have to play a three-match ODI series against the West Indies here, starting on February 6. A senior official with knowledge of this said that Thursday’s session was light exercise, with the players along with the trainers. It is learned that wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan, who is a specialist opener, has also been included in the ODI squad.
On Wednesday, three main players of the Indian cricket team, senior opener Dhawan, reserve opener Gaikwad and middle-order batsman Iyer, came positive in the Kovid-19 test during the mandatory quarantine before the start of the series against the West Indies. Four other people also came positive in the Kovid-19 test, including net bowler Navdeep Saini. Saini is also included in the stand-by list.
The other three members who tested positive for COVID-19 are fielding coach T Dileep, security liaison officer B Lokesh and massage therapist Rajeev Kumar. The Indian team had gathered in Ahmedabad on January 31 for the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies. The series will start in Ahmedabad from February 6, which will be India’s 1000th ODI. But now it is certain that the trio of Shikhar, Ruturaj and Shreyas will not be able to play in the series as they will have to be in a week-long quarantine and then come back negative twice in the RT-PCR test.
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