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AAP
Sport
Scott Bailey

Australia fight off COVID U-19 for WC semi

Australia are hopeful Nivethan Radhakrishnan will be available for their U-19 WC semi against India. (AAP)

Australian officials are hopeful ambidextrous spinner Nivethan Radhakrishnan will be among the players available again for selection for their Under-19 Cricket World Cup semi-final, after the squad was infiltrated by COVID-19.

It's understood the virus has infected at least four Australia players during the tournament in the Caribbean, causing selection headaches in the past fortnight.

Australia will play India in Wednesday's semi-final, after the sub-continent powerhouse sealed their spot in the last four with a five-wicket win over Bangladesh.

But Australian officials will hope the outbreak in their group has been brought under control and will have limited impact on the grand-final qualifier.

Fast bowler Tom Whitney missed Australia's must-win group match with Scotland after contracting the virus, but was able to return for the quarter-final win over Pakistan on Friday.

Radhakrishnan has missed both the Scotland and Pakistan games, with Australian staff hopeful he will be out of isolation and recovered to face India.

The Tasmania spinner is one of Australia's best players, also batting in the top and middle order.

Middle-order batter Isaac Higgins also missed the Pakistan clash after contracting the virus, while a fourth unnamed player has been isolated.

Australia are not alone in being impacted by COVID-19 during the tournament.

India were without 12 players for their clash with Uganda and had to call in six reserves to play with the non-infected members of their squad.

Other countries have also had positive tests, while Canada have been forced to pull out of the playoffs for lower spots due to a lack of available players.

Australia's preparations for the tournament had already been heavily impacted by the virus, with no full-squad camps or national tournaments in the past two years.

The team went into the tournament with just one warm-up match against India after not playing together in the months prior, while other sides played in lead-in tournaments.

"We haven't been as as lucky as a lot of the other countries," in-form opener Teague Wyllie told AAP.

"Those guys have already played 20 or 25 games together. We played three or four.

"So we basically just have to go out there and string performances together a lot earlier than a lot of other nations have had to.

"We've just got to make the most of it with the time we've got over here, and I think a lot of the boys are cherishing the time we get together."

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