The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to send five reserve players to West Indies for the ongoing Under-19 World Cup 2022, a source confirmed to Sports Tak. The decision has been taken after six players tested positive for the virus and were isolated before India’s clash against Ireland.
Udhay Saran, Abhishek Porel, Rishith Reddy, Ansh Gosai and PM Singh Rathore are five players who will be going to the Caribbean as reserve players. However, it is yet to be decided whether they will be available for selection straight away or not given the Covid guidelines.
Out of the six players that tested positive, Vasu Vats’ report has returned negative whereas other five still remain in isolation. Skipper Yash Dhull, vice-captain Shaik Rasheed, Sidharth Yadav, Manav Parakh, Aaradhya Yadav are still in isolation.
Despite missing six key players from the squad, India won their second group encounter against Ireland by a comfortable margin of 174 runs under the leadership of Nishant Sindhu on January 19.
India have already qualified for the knockouts with two consecutive wins but they still have a group encounter left against Uganda which is scheduled to be played on January 22. It is unlikely that all the players who tested positive for the virus will return for the game against Uganda. Meanwhile, all players who took the field against Ireland have tested negative and will play against Uganda.
The knockout stages of the tournament will begin from January 25. There is a possibility that the Covid-positive players maybe able to recover and play in the knockout clash. Otherwise India will face a tough road ahead to win their fifth Under-19 World Cup title.
India U-19 Playing XI vs Ireland: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Raj Bawa, Nishant Sindhu (c), Kaushal Tambe, Dinesh Bana (wk), Garv Sangwan, Vicky Ostwal, Aneeshwar Gautam, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravi Kumar
