U-19 World Cup: Captain Yash Dhull and four others recover from Covid-19 ahead of quarters

Saint John's (Antigua), Jan 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Five India cricketers who were infected with Covid-19, including skipper Yash Dhull and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed, have recovered and are available for the Under-19 World Cup quarter-final against Bangladesh, scheduled to be played here on Saturday.

Dhull, Rasheed, Sidharth Yadav, Aaradhya Yadav and Manav Parakh had tested positive for Covid-19 before the Ireland game and India had faced difficulty in fielding a playing eleven on the park.

The availability of these five previously positive players has bolstered India's squad. Dhull and Rasheed are expected to slot into a batting line-up that averages nearly 315 runs per innings while Siddarth, Aaradhya Manav are also up for selection in the playing XI too.

However, all-rounder Nishant Sindhu will miss the quarter-final against Bangladesh after testing positive for Covid-19, an ESPNcricinfo report said.

Sindhu was handed over the captaincy for two league games in the absence of Dhull. So far, he has played a key role as an economical left-arm spinner, taking four wickets at an average of 14.25 and an economy rate of 2.75.

Players who test positive at the competition are expected to serve at least seven days of quarantine, which means Sindhu is also likely to be unavailable for the semi-final -- against Pakistan or Australia on Wednesday -- if India beat Bangladesh.

India currently have 21 players to choose from. Sixteen of the 17 from the main squad remain available for selection, along with the five travelling reserves who were flown into the Caribbean following the first Covid-19 outbreak in the squad.

If India need to pick players from the pool of reserves, they will have to make a formal request to the ICC event technical committee for a temporary change in the squad.

Source: IANS