[Watch] Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer have 1st training session with India squad after recovering from COVID-19
Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer have recovered from COVID-19. They had their first training session with the India squad yesterday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The two had tested positive last week, and missed the first ODI against the West Indies on Sunday. However, they subsequently returned a negative test, and were cleared for light training yesterday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video today of the two from training. The BCCI captioned the video:
"They're Back! @SDhawan25 & @ShreyasIyer15 have recovered from COVID-19 and trained with the #TeamIndia squad ahead of the 2nd ODI."
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had also tested positive for COVID-19 last week, is yet to test negative, and is continuing to isolate.
"Being on the ground a different feeling altogether" - Shikhar Dhawan
Opener Shikhar Dhawan expressed his happiness at being out of isolation and back on the training ground.
"It feels great. I came out of my room after 7-8 days, and being on the ground is always a completely different feeling altogether. It was great fun, practicing with the whole team," he said.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer said that he took some time to get acclimatised to the intensity of training and the weather before getting into the flow of things. He said:
"Today was the day I arrived on the ground, and I was asked to go on three rounds. The first two rounds were very difficult, but after that, I felt that the lungs opened up, and the third one went on pretty easy. It took me a bit longer to get acclimatised to the weather and conditions around, but otherwise Iβve been good."
Speaking about his training session, Iyer said:
"I just started with small drills, sort of got into the rhythm and then after that, once my eyes got set, I asked our throwdown bowlers to chuck few balls. Gradually I increased the pace, and thatβs how I set the rhythm. Today was the first day, and obviously, Iβll take it forward from here."
It remains to be seen if the duo is cleared to feature in the second ODI between India and West Indies later today in Ahmedabad.