KL Rahul had a blow on Thursday after he tested positive for Covid-19. He was already in a rush to prove his fitness ahead of the West Indies T20Is in the Caribbean and the USA. After an apex council meeting in Mumbai, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly announced the news.

Rahul had sports hernia surgery in Germany last month and was recovering at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. His participation in the T20I team against the West Indies was contingent upon his fitness. Before testing positive, he had gradually increased his batting time at the nets over the previous week. KL Rahul will probably only have a brief window to pass his fitness test and keep a negative before boarding the plane for the Caribbean. Rahul is probably going to miss the series because the T20Is are scheduled to start on July 29 in Trinidad.

If Rahul successfully completes his post-Covid rehabilitation, he would be ready to go again in August in Zimbabwe. On August 18, 20, and 22, India will play three one-day internationals in Harare as part of the ODI Super League.

Kuldeep Yadav, meanwhile, has been given the all-clear by the NCA following his recovery from a hand injury. At the earliest, the selecting committee will probably make a final decision about his participation. His selection for India’s T20I team was consequently also subject to a fitness test.

Kuldeep was out of the South Africa T20Is at home due to a hairline fracture in his right wrist, which he had been healing from. He was unable to participate in the white-ball tours of Ireland and England due to his injuries. Kuldeep’s last IPL team was Delhi Capitals, when he amassed 21 wickets in 14 games.

The earlier announced squad included KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav, but their real inclusion was subject to fitness.

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.