The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team has landed in Trinidad for a five-match T20I series starting on July 29. The series is part of the T20I contests that Team India will play in the lead up to the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November. In a video, posted by the BCCI on its social media handles, it can be seen that skipper Rohit, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar reaching the team hotel and being greeted by the support staff. Ahead of the T20I series, the Indian cricket team is currently playing in an ODI series against the Windies, without most of the senior players.
However, in the video posted by BCCI , KL Rahul could not be seen. On July 21, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly informed that the senior India opener had tested positive for COVID-19. There was no official update after that on whether Rahul will be a part of the series or not.
With the latest development, Rahul's torrid run does not seem to end. He was supposed to lead India in the T20I series at home against South Africa in June, but was ruled out due to a groin injury. He then underwent a successful surgery for sports hernia in Germany and is now on the road to recovery. Rahul has over the years had recurrent lower abdominal related fitness issues, including groin strains and hamstring injuries. "It's been a tough couple of weeks but the surgery was successful. I'm healing and recovering well. My road to recovery has begun. Thank you for your messages and prayers. See you soon," Rahul had tweeted earlier.
India's squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul*, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav*, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
*The inclusion of KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav is subject to fitness.