Ashwin has not travelled to England after testing positive for COVID-19: BCCI source

Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has not traveled to the United Kingdom along with his India teammates for the one-off ‘fifth Test’ after testing positive for COVID-19, a BCCI source told PTI.

Ashwin is currently in quarantine and will only join the squad after meeting all protocol requirements.

The Indian team had left for the UK on June 16.

”Ashwin hasn’t traveled with the squad to the UK as he has tested positive for COVID-19 before departure. But we are hopeful that he will recover well in time before the Test match starts on July 1,” the BCCI source said on conditions of anonymity.

”However, he might miss the practice game against Leicestershire,” the source added.

After the IPL, Ashwin had played a Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) League red-ball match where he had bowled 20 overs to get some long-form game time. The rest of the Indian squad is already in Leicester and started training under the supervision of bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and batting coach Vikram Rathour.

Rahul Dravid, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer have reached London after finishing the T20I assignment against South Africa and will travel to Leicester on Tuesday.

The Ireland-bound squad under VVS Laxman will leave for Dublin on either June 23 or 24 as the team members have been given a three-day rest.