India vs England 5th Test: Ashwin misses UK flight after testing Covid positive; Will he play at Birmingham?

Mumbai, June 21: India off-spinner R Ashwin has not travelled to the United Kingdom along with his teammates for the one-off 'fifth Test' against England after testing positive for COVID-19.

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

The Indian team had left for UK on June 16. "Ashwin hasn't travelled with the squad to 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," a BCCI source told PTI.

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

The rest of the squad is already in Leicester and started training under supervision of bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and batting coach Vikram Rathour.

Rahul Dravid and Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant have reached London after finishing the home T20I assignment against South Africa and will travel to Leicester on Tuesday (June 21).

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 after the series against the South Africa which ended 2-2.

The one-off Test will be played at Birmingham from July 1, which is the suspended 5th Test from the 2021 tour.

The fifth Test was scheduled to play at Manchester last year but was suspended after a Covid-19 breakout in the Indian camp.