Nishant Sidhu led a depleted India U-19 side in their group stage fixture against Ireland in Trinidad on Wednesday.
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India’s campaign in the U-19 World Cup has landed in a fix as captain Yash Dhull and five other members of the squad have tested positive for Covid-19 following RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests, the Board of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a media release. The depleted India U-19 side was led by Nisanth Sidhu in the Group B encounter against Ireland in Trinidad on Wednesday after the six members were sent into isolation. Vice-captain SK Rasheed, Manav Parakh, Siddarth Yadav, Aaradhya Yadav and Vasu Vats are the other members of the team who have tested positive for Covid-19 from the 17-member squad.
“We understand that some players have come in close contact with Covid positive players and as a measure of precaution the players have been isolated. The fact that they are playing Ireland has helped the team management. The team wants to avoid risk ahead of the bigger games,” a source in knowledge of the development told Cricbuzz.
India have been placed with Ireland, South Africa and Uganda in Group B of the U-19 World Cup. The Boys-in-Blue began their campaign with a 45 runs victory in the first match and set a stiff target of 308 runs to chase for the Irish side in the ongoing encounter.
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The governing body had said ahead of the U-19 World Cup that it will keep the bio-bubble environment flexible due to the schedule. It is understood that the body took the decision to maintain sanity for the youngsters taking part at the marquee event.
“We have to be flexible and nimble with the schedule. Our focus has been to make this event happen. You will probably get positive tests at some stage. We will be flexible. It is not going to be that one positive case and stop them (the tournament),” ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice told a select media group before the start of the tournament.
“We are going to be as pragmatic as possible with the aim to complete the tournament. We are running and managing an environment which is not a strict bubble. We are taking precautions with the players. We will try and keep them as isolated as possible. It is a balance between risk of catching virus and freedom the young people will be looking for to enjoy the atmosphere of the Under 19 World Cup,” he added.
India U-19 team is next scheduled to take on Uganda on Saturday in a relatively less competitive encounter. The team is also likely to qualify for the Super League quarter-finals which gets underway on January 26.
