Steven Taylor, Aaron Jones among four Covid-19-positive cases in the USA camp
A string of positive Covid-19 tests in the US squads for the two-game T20I and three-game ODI series against Ireland in Lauderhill has knocked out several key culprits - including Steven Taylor, their top scorer in T20 cricket, and Aaron Jones. the vice-captain. It therefore led to four emergency reinforcements being flown in on the evening before the series.
The four affected players, including Jaskaran Malhotra and Karima Gore, learned of their test results before the squad's official training camp began, although most of the players were already in Florida to take part in the annual US Open T20 tournament. Three of the four were banned from the T20I series and while Taylor was not officially banned, he has not trained with the US squad either and is considered a long way to go to play in either of the two T20Is scheduled for Jan. 22-23 .
Irrespective of this, the fast bowler Rusty Theron was also excluded after sustaining a groin injury at the US Open. This meant the US only had 11 players in training on Monday, including two players, Nosthush Kenjige and Sushant Modani, who were only supposed to be part of the ODI squad.
A trio of U.S. U-19 players - left spinner Ali Sheikh, leg spinner Yasir Mohammad and right batsman Ritwik Behera - were named to the squad after passing Covid tests in their respective hometowns to determine their availability clear up. While Sheikh and Mohammed were only mentioned in the T20I troops, Behera was mentioned in both the T20I and ODI troops. Ryan Scott, who scored two centuries for Michigan Cricket Stars in the opening season of the T20 minor league cricket franchise competition, was also named to the T20I squad.
The left arm spinning all-rounder Marty Kain, who should actually only be in the T20I roster, was subsequently added to the ODI roster. Modani, who was only in the ODI roster, was also included in the T20I squad.
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Jones, Taylor and Malhotra have not yet been banned from the ODI series, which begins December 26th. Officials hope they can complete their 10-day isolation period and return two negative PCR tests in order to participate.
The Irish squad is also affected by a number of changes related to Covid. Harry Tector, Gareth Delany, Barry McCarthy, and George Dockrell all tested positive before the series began. However, McCarthy completed his 10-day isolation period and attended Ireland's training session on Monday.
USA T20I squad: Monank Patel (capt), Ali Khan, Ali Sheikh, Gajanand Singh, Jessy Singh, Marty Kain, Nisarg Patel, Ritwik Behera, Ryan Scott, Saurabh Netravalkar, Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Vatsal Vaghela, Xavier Marshall, Yasir Mohammad.
USA ODI squad: Monank Patel (capt), Aaron Jones (vice-capt), Ali Khan, Gajanand Singh, Jessy Singh, Jaskaran Malhotra, Marty Kain, Nisarg Patel, Nosthush Kenjige, Rahul Jariwala, Ritwik Behera, Saurabh Netravalkar, Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Vatsal Vaghela, Xavier Marshall.