Although the current situation is well with the outside world, Corona is not completely gone. It has had a profound effect on cricket.
The Indian cricket team came under the grip of Covid-19 on Wednesday. Four members of the support staff, including senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad and middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, have been found to be Corona positive.
The Indian team was busy in Ahmedabad on 31 January for the upcoming limited-overs series against West Indies. Team India was going through three-day isolation after the series against South Africa.
Mayank Agarwal has been added to the team after this incident before the start of the series against West Indies.
The series will start on February 6 in Ahmedabad, which will be India’s 1000th ODI, but these three players will no longer be able to play in the series. Dhawan, Iyer, and Gaikwad will have to undergo a week’s isolation. After this, they can join the team only after two negative RT-PCR results.
“The players are not showing symptoms of the disease and hope that they will recover by the time the quarantine is over. You will be disappointed for Shikhar as he may not take part in the series and he is not part of the T20 team”.
A senior BCCI official
Even more disappointing is about the young Ruturaj Gaikwad who has been found to be Covid-19 positive for the second time in the last one and a half years.
“If you remember, Ruturaj was also found positive during the 2020 IPL in UAE and he had to face a very difficult situation. Then he had to undergo 14 days of isolation and did not play in the first half of the season in the UAE. He has been found positive for the second time.”
BCCI Official
Apart from captain Rohit Sharma, senior players like Virat Kohli and coach Rahul Dravid were all found negative on Wednesday.
“The results of all those till Wednesday are negative.”
BCCI Official
The mandatory segregation of those who have got negative results will be completed on Thursday. If found negative again on Thursday, they will enter a biologically safe environment. As per the testing protocol of BCCI medical team, RT-PCR test will be done every day as rapid antigen tests are mostly not conclusive. Rapid antigen kits have been handed over to the team for self-examination in case the player shows symptoms.
