KL Rahul Misses 1st ODI Against WI: Indian opening batsman KL Rahul is all set to skip the first ODI match against West Indies in order to attend his sister’s wedding function.
KL Rahul Misses 1st ODI Against WI
According to a report in ESPN Cricinfo, Rahul has not yet joined the India squad and is set to miss the first ODI in order to attend his sister’s wedding.
India will host West Indies for three ODIs at the Narendra Modi Stadium, beginning February 6, followed by three T20 Internationals at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
However, KL Rahul is expected to return to the Indian squad for the second ODI match against West Indies at home. He recently led the Indian team in the ODI series against South Africa in the absence of Rohit Sharma. While the things didn’t work in India’s favour as they suffered a 0-3 series defeat to the Proteas.
COVID19 Outbreak in India Squad
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 outbreak has hit the Indian camp ahead of the series as three main players — senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer — tested positive for the virus during their mandatory isolation period.
Four other persons, including net bowler Navdeep Saini, have also tested positive for COVID-19.
“Three players — Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan have tested positive. However, there are multiple COVID positive cases among non-coaching administrative support staff. It could be between two to four people,” a veteran BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The series starts in Ahmedabad on February 6 with India’s 1000th ODI match but it is now a foregone conclusion that the trio will be missing the series as they will have to undergo week-long isolation and then return with two negative RT-PCR tests.
It is expected that M Shahrukh Khan, R Sai Kishore, Rishi Dhawan, who are stand byes for the series, will now get a look-in to be in the squad.
As far as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner is concerned, Venkatesh Iyer, a specialist opener in the T20 squad, could be tried out.
