The BCCI is sending backup players to the Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean, where the Indian squad has been devastated by Covid-19.
At least five under-19 players — Abhishek Porel (Bengal), Uday Saharan (Rajasthan), Rishith Reddy (Hyderabad), Ansh Gosai (Saurashtra), and PM Singh Yadav (Rajasthan) — are being traveled to the West Indies on Friday night as back-ups to the Yash Dhull-led side, which has been forced to isolate six players, including the skipper himself
The players will join the squad in Trinidad, where they will face Uganda in their third and final Group B match on Saturday.
However, the Indian team management has not made a formal request to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for replacements, but replacements are being sent as backup options.
"If any of them have to be included in the official squad, the team management will make the final decision," a BCCI official close to the development said on Friday.
Six Indian players, including vice-captain SK Rasheed, Manav Parakh, Siddarth Yadav, Aaradhya Yadav, and Vasu Vats, as well as skipper Dhull, were placed into isolation before their match against Ireland after testing positive in RT-PCR or Rapid Antigen tests. All six players are still in isolation, which means they will be unavailable for the game against Uganda.