CHENNAI: Three Indian players — Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad — and as many support staff members have tested positive for Covid-19 in Ahmedabad ahead of the opening ODI against West Indies starting on Sunday.
It is understood that six were tested positive in the latest round of mandatory RT-PCR tests taken on Wednesday. Another player, who is believed to have symptoms, is also understood to be isolated.
The Indian team had landed in Ahmedabad on Sunday for the three-match ODI series against West Indies to be played behind closed doors on Sunday. They were supposed to end their three-day quarantine on Wednesday and begin training from Thursday.
While the entire team tested negative in the first round of RT-PCR tests which was taken upon arrival, six of them tested positive in the second tests taken on Wednesday. Though the players and the support staff have not mixed together yet, the rest of the squad have been told to remain indoors for another day as a precaution and will undergo another round of RT-PCR tests on Thursday morning.
The BCCI's medical team is monitoring the situation and the officials remained hopeful that the first ODI will go ahead as scheduled unless more players test positive. In case there are more cases in the camp, the BCCI is looking to push back the start of the ODI by a couple of days. With the Sri Lanka series beginning on February 25, the BCCI has a tight schedule in place.
This daily understands that the rest of the contingent are not showing any symptoms as of now, and the BCCI is planning more tests in the coming days. There are also indications that a couple of players, who are part of the T20I squad, have also tested positive.
Among the support staff who tested positive, one happens to be a coaching staff member and the BCCI believes the six would have contracted the virus while taking the flight to Ahmedabad. The series, like all the previous ones since the onset of the pandemic, is being played in a bio-secure environment. With India gripped under a third Covid wave, the BCCI was forced to restrict the number of venues to two – Kolkata will host the T20Is – and the West Indies team, led by Kieron Pollard, touched down in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Among the players, Gaikwad has tested Covid positive for the second time. The opener had contracted the virus during the 2020 IPL in Dubai. With KL Rahul not available for the first ODI, and Gaikwad and Dhawan unavailable, India will need a stand-in opener to partner with Rohit Sharma.