U-19 World Cup: Covid hits young India, 6 test +ve

PTI

Tarouba (Trinidad), January 19

India Under-19 skipper Yash Dhull, his deputy Sheikh Rasheed and four of their teammates have tested positive for Covid-19, forcing them out of the Group B World Cup game against Ireland and seriously jeopardising the side’s campaign.

Aaradhya Yadav, Vasu Vats, Manav Parakh and Siddharth Yadav were also found infected with the virus, because of which India barely managed to field an XI against Ireland. “Three Indian players had tested positive yesterday and were already isolated. In the morning, before the match, our captain and vice-captain also tested positive in Rapid Antigen Test which is not (not considered) conclusive,” a BCCI official told PTI.

“So they, as a precautionary measure, were pulled out. We only had 11 available players,” the official added.

Nishant Sindhu led the team against Ireland today.

The team played its opening game in Guyana. It is suspected that the infection may have been contracted during their stay in Guyana. India are scheduled to take on Uganda on Saturday and it remains to be seen whether that match goes ahead.

“In case all players remain in isolation, some of the stand-by players could make the main list. We will need to wait as three cases are from RAT test. Let’s hope their RT-PCR comes negative,” the BCCI source said.

India had announced a 17-member squad for the tournament and five stand-by players. The stand-by players are in India as ICC allowed only 17 players. The mandatory quarantine for Covid-positive players is 10 days. — PTI

Skipper Prest the hero as England beat Canada

Basseterre (St Kitts): Captain Tom Prest struck a run-a-ball 93 before chipping in with three wickets to help former champions England register a 106-run victory over Canada in a Group A league match of the ICC Under-19 World Cup here. Asked to bat first, Prest hit 10 boundaries in his entertaining innings but missed out on a century as the 1998 edition winners reached 320/7. England bowled Canada out for 214 In another Group A clash, South Africa logged a 121-run win over Uganda. Elsewhere, Afghanistan thumped Papua New Guinea by 135 runs to go to the top of the Group C.

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