Mayank Agarwal has been added to the national squad for the upcoming white-ball series against West Indies. The development comes after seven members, including three players have tested positive for COVID-19.Amongst those who have tested positive for COVID-19 are Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Navdeep Saini. Fielding coach T. Dilip and massage therapist Rajeev Kumar have also returned positive tests. Agarwal's last ODI match was back in 2020 against Australia. In total, the Karnataka batter has played 5 ODI matches for India and has scored 86 runs at an average of 17.20.
The BCCI had asked all the members of the ODI squad to report in Ahmedabad on January 31. According to a press release issued by the BCCI, every member of the squad was asked to take an RT-PCR test before leaving for Ahmedabad. The BCCI then conducted its own RT-PCR tests after players arrived in Ahmedabad. In the first round of testing on Monday, Dhawan and Saini returned positive results. Fielding Coach T. Dilip and Security Liaison Officer B. Lokesh also tested positive on the same day. Meanwhile, skipper Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid, and veteran batter Virat Kohli have all tested negative and will likely take the field against West Indies in the first ODI on February 6.
