Indian speedster recovers from Covid-19 to rejoin squad; Rahul, Agarwal sweat out in nets too ahead of 2nd ODI

KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Navdeep Saini have joined the squad ahead of the second ODI against West Indies. While Agarwal was completing his mandatory quarantine, Rahul missed the first ODI due to personal reason and Saini was in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19. 

“Look who are here! The trio has joined the squad and sweated it out in the practice session today,” BCCI wrote in a tweet on Monday (February 7) evening. 

Saini, a reserve pacer for the limited-overs series against West Indies, tested positive for the virus along with Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad earlier this month. Meanwhile, Dhawan, Iyer and Gaikwad are yet to rejoin the squad after missing the first ODI after contracting the virus. 

It will be interesting to see who will open alongside Rohit Sharma in the second ODI on February 9. After Dhawan and Gaikwad were ruled out of the first ODI, Agarwal was called in as replacement. Agarwal made a comeback to the ODI squad after more than 14 months. He has scored 86 runs from five games in the format.

Also, it is yet to be seen whether Rahul will walk into the playing XI as an opener or a middle-order batter. Rahul had scored one half-century from three ODIs against South Africa last month. 

The only recognised opener available in the squad, Ishan Kishan opened the innings for the hosts alongside Rohit in the series opener. The two shared an 84-run opening stand while chasing 177. Kishan scored 28 runs from 36 deliveries including two fours and one six. He got trying to sweep Akeal Hosein for a maximum in the 17th over. 

There is a possibility that Dhawan and Gaikwad may rejoin the squad if they recover in time for the second ODI or the third which is scheduled to be played on February 11 at the same venue.

In the first ODI, India registered a comfortable six-wicket win as they chased down a non-challenging target of 177 with 22 overs to spare. Yuzvendra Chahal was the star of the match as he picked up a four-wicket haul to break the back of the Caribbean team in the middle overs.