In advance of the upcoming five-match T20 series against the West Indies, star Indian batsman KL Rahul tested positive for Covid-19, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly announced on Thursday during the board's Apex Council meeting.
Rahul, who is receiving rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), is now likely to miss the T20I series, which is set to take place from July 29 to August 7 across three venues: Trinidad, St. Kitts, and Florida (US).
In Germany, the 30-year-old recently underwent groyne surgery. He returned to the NCA following the successful completion of the surgery, and he has been posting images about his rehab regimen on social media. He had also spoken to the participants in NCA's Level-3 coach certification programme.
Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav, who was also conditionally selected pending achieving full fitness, were scheduled to take a test at the NCA on Friday, according to a Cricbuzz report. Rahul now appears to be in danger of missing both the fitness test and the tour altogether.
Ravindra Jadeja, an all-rounder, is also a questionable starter for the ODI series against the West Indies, which gets underway on Friday. According to information obtained, Jadeja, who was selected vice-captain for the three-match ODI series, has a niggle in his knee and is seeking medical assistance to evaluate the severity of his injury.
The 33-year-old is expected to be sidelined for the whole ODI series as a preventative measure to prevent aggravating his ailment, which is reportedly to his left knee.
The all-around player might be able to play in the five-game T20I series that comes after the three ODIs. The ODIs are slated to take place on July 22, 24, and 27 at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
The national selectors and the team management are debating whether to name a deputy in light of the development. There is a likelihood that no announcement will be made and that coach Rahul Dravid will make the choice of the vice captain on the moment. Shardul Thakur and Yuzvendra Chahal are the two other experienced players in the ODI team.
ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
T20Is squad:Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav*, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh