New Delhi: Veteran bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has not travelled to the United Kingdom with his teammates for the postponed fifth Test match against England after testing positive for COVID-19, said a BCCI source.
The senior off-spinner is under quarantine and will join up with the squad after fulfilling the required safety protocols.
The source said they remain hopeful that Ashwin will recover in time for the match slated to start on the 1st of July and will join the squad as soon as he possibly can.
A practice match against Leicestershire is scheduled to take place before the game against England kicks off. And the spinner from Tamil Nadu is set to miss the practice game in Leicester.
Team India head coach Rahul Dravid and batsmen Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer have travelled to London after the completion of the series against South Africa.
India lead the series against England 2-1 before the fifth test was called off a couple of hours before the toss amid growing concerns about COVID.
The game which was originally scheduled to take place at The Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester was pushed after India found it difficult to field a team due to fear of an increase in the number of players affected by the virus going around in the camp.
As a result of the game being postponed, the dates of the ensuing ODI series had to be moved around a bit, making it a packed tour.
The test will be followed by three T20 international games starting on the 7th of July. The three-match ODI series is slated to begin on the 12th of July right after the completion of the shortest format series of the game.
After a draw in the first game of the test series at Trent Bridge, India managed to clinch a victory in the second fixture of the tour at the famous Lord’s.
England made sure to level the series in the very next game as they drew level on 1-1 in the series at the Headingly Stadium in Yorkshire. However, in the subsequent Oval test, India put up a brilliant show to take the win in the fourth test to lead the series 2-1.
