KL Rahul Tests Positive For COVID-19 Ahead Of West Indies Tour, Participation In T20Is Doubtful

KL Rahul, senior India opener, has tested positive for COVID-19. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly informed about Rahul after the Board’s Apex Council meeting in Mumbai on Thursday. Rahul underwent a surgery recently and had resumed his training at the NCA in Bengaluru. He was named in the T20I squad for the West Indies tour and supposed to take a fitness in a couple of days. With his COVID test returning positive, it remains to be seen whether he will travel to the West Indies or not. The T20I series starts on July 29 in Tadouba.

Rahul on Thursday itself had addressed the candidates, who attended the Level-3 coach certification course at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Ganguly also informed that a member of the Commonwealth Games-bound India women’s team was also down with COVID-19. He, however, did not disclose the name of the player.

With the latest development, Rahul’s torrid run does not seem to end. He was supposed to lead India in the T20I series at home against South Africa in June, but was ruled out due to a groin injury. He then underwent a successful surgery for sports hernia in Germany and is now on the road to recovery. Rahul has over the years had recurrent lower abdominal related fitness issues, including groin strains and hamstring injuries. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks but the surgery was successful. I’m healing and recovering well. My road to recovery has begun. Thank you for your messages and prayers. See you soon,” Rahul had tweeted earlier.

Rahul was for the upcoming five-match T20I series against West Indies, starting on July 29. However, he was supposed to travel to the Caribbean islands only if he cleared the fitness tests. Rahul has been one of India’s prolific scorers in the shortest format and is expected to play a key role in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. The 30-year-old has played 42 Tests, 42 ODIs and 56 T20Is for India in the last eight years.

India’s squad for 5 T20Is: 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.

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*The inclusion of KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav is subject to fitness.

With PTI inputs