Virat Kohli allegedly tested COVID-19 positive before flying out to England

Virat Kohli was reportedly hit with Covid ahead of his trip to England. 

COVID-19 has been a constant thorn in the smooth conduct of cricket since the resumption of the game in 2021.

India's tour of England has also been affected by the virus after spinner Ravichandran Ashwin missed his flight to the United Kingdom after testing positive for the virus.

According to a report in the Times of India, Virat Kohli tested positive upon arrival from his Maldives trip but recovered in time for the Test side's departure.

A close source said: "Yes, Virat too was hit by Covid after returning from holidaying in Maldives, but he's recovered now".

He further added that it could hamper coach Rahul Dravid's plans to play hard-fought cricket against Leicestershire in their only red-ball warm-up game starting Friday.

"This now means that India's tour game against Leicestershire from June 24 won't be as intense as coach Rahul Dravid wanted it to be, since the medical advice is to not overload the players after they've suffered Covid-19. There could be more Covid cases in the team," he added.

Indian Test team captain Rohit Sharma and the former Indian skipper were seen posing in pictures with fans after they arrived in London last week. Ashwin is expected to regroup with the squad ahead of their four-day game at Leicester.

Off-spinner Jayant Yadav has been kept on stand-by for Ashwin, if the star tweaker fails to recover.

India is scheduled to play a one-off Test against England on July 1, at Birmingham.

The visitors lead the series 2-1 after the fifth and final Test of their 2021 tour was cancelled due to several members being affected by coronavirus, forcing the administrators to reschedule the Manchester Test.

The Test match will be followed by three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and three-T20Is series, starting on July 7 and 12, respectively.

The limited-overs squad will get to play two T20 warm-up games; against Derbyshire on July 1 and against Northamptonshire on July 3.