Days ahead of the Indian national cricket team's rescheduled Test match against England at Edgbaston, former captain, Virat Kohli has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. (More Cricket News)
But Kohli, 33, is not the only player to contract the virus. Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has not travelled to England along with Indian teammates after testing positive for the virus. Ashwin, 35, will leave for London on Wednesday after having recovered from COVID-19. The off-spinner had been in home isolation.
"Yes, Virat too was hit by Covid after returning from holidaying in the Maldives, but he’s recovered now,” Times of India reported quoting a source.
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India are scheduled to play a four-day warm-up match against Leicestershire at Grace Road, Leicester.
"This now means that India’s tour game against Leicestershire from June 24 won't be as intense as coach Rahul Dravid wanted it to be, since the medical advice is to not overload the players after they’ve suffered Covid-19. There could be more Covid cases in the team,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Leicestershire shared a video of Virat Kohli giving "a passionate team talk ahead of the practice match. Watch it here:
It's worth noting that India's tour of England last year was cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in the visiting camp. Ravi Shastri, the then head coach, was among those who were infected with the virus.
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Hours before the toss in Manchester England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) issued a statement, saying that India are "unable to field a team and will instead forfeit the match". Later the two boards agreed to reschedule the match. India were leading the series 2-1.
Now England and India will see new captains leading their respective sides. While Rohit Sharma has become India's full-time all-format captain, Ben Stokes has taken Test reins from Joe Root.
England Test team is currently playing a three-match series against reigning ICC World Test Championship winners New Zealand.
They have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead, and the third Test at Headingley, Leeds starts June 23.
Another Indian team, led by Hardik Pandya will play Ireland in a two-match T20I series, on June 26 and 28.
India will then play three ODIs and three T20Is against England.
Schedule for India's tour of England 2022
Rescheduled Test Match: July 1 to 5 at Edgbaston, Birmingham;
1st T20I: July 7 at Rose Bowl, Southampton;
2nd T20I: July 9 at Edgbaston, Birmingham;
3rd T20I: July 10 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham;
1st ODI: July 12 at Kennington Oval, London;
2nd ODI: July 14 at Lord's, London;
3rd ODI: July 17 at Old Trafford, Manchester.
