Picture Credit: ICC
The ongoing U-19 World Cup in West Indies has been quite a difficult one for Team India so far, primarily due to all the off-the-field troubles. Although the performances on the field have been brilliant, the COVID-19 outbreak in the camp has made it a very challenging journey for the players, mentally and psychologically.
Just a few days back, 5 Indian players - including captain Yash Dhull and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed - had tested positive for COVID-19 which had come as a major blow to Men in Blue. However, the team kept their composure and made their way through to last 8.
However, ahead of the QF game against Bangladesh on Saturday, there was good and bad news for India. While all the 5 players notably recovered from COVID-19, Nishant Sindhu - who was leading the side in absence of the designated captain & vice-captain - has now tested positive for the virus. As a result, he has been ruled out of the game on Jan 29.
"Nishant Sindhu has tested positive for COVID-19 but all the members that had tested positive earlier have now recovered and are available for the quarter-final against Bangladesh, " a source told ANI. Notably, Sindhu has scored 78 runs in 3 matches for Team India in World Cup so far.
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Meanwhile, all the other players - captain Yash Dhull, his deputy Shaik Rasheed, Sidharth Yadav, Aaradhya Yadav and Manav Parakh - have now tested negative in the latest round of RT-PCR testing.
After undergoing seven days of isolation in Trinidad as per the protocols, the five players reached Antigua on Friday morning to resume their preparations, following their recovery. It was reported that all of them have been medically deemed fit to play and a final decision on their inclusion in playing XI will be taken following their one-day training.