Indian player Rishabh Pant and throwdown specialist Dayananda Garani tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of their Test series against England.
India and England are set to face each other in a series of Test matches three weeks from now. The Men in Blue have stayed in the UK after having lost the World Test Championship Finals against New Zealand last month. There, they were given a 20-day break in the biosecure bubble before joining back together on the team.
Just recently, Indian player Rishabh Pant and the team’s throwdown specialist have both tested positive for COVID-19. This was confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) who said that Pant tested positive on July 8 and Garani tested positive on the 14th. Both of them have been isolated since then.
Aside from the two, three other members of the Indian contingent were asked to stay in isolation after being in close contact with Garani. These are reserve wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha, standby opener Abhimanyu Easwaran and bowling coach Bharat Arun.
In an official statement of the BCCI, they said, ‘Pant, who had not stayed in the team hotel during the break period, tested positive on 8th July. He is asymptomatic and currently undergoing self-isolation at the place where he reported positive. He is being closely monitored by the BCCI Medical Team and is on his way to recovery. He will be able to join the squad in Durham after returning two negative RT-PCR tests’.
‘The entire Indian contingent including travelling family members and caretakers were administered with the second dose of covid vaccine earlier this month in London. To mitigate any further risks, the Indian contingent is taking the Lateral Flow Test on a daily basis’, the official statement added.
Currently, there are a lot of new COVID-19 cases in the UK. Aside from the Indian team, the English side also had to undergo quarantine as seven of their members tested positive for the virus too. With the seriousness of the situation, the BCCI has also advised their team to exercise caution and avoid going to crowded places as much as possible.
The Indian team will play against England in a five-Test series that will start on August 4. They will also conduct a practice game that starts on July 20 where Pant would have to be temporarily replaced by KL Rahul. The upcoming Test series marks the start of the second cycle of the World Test Championship. To know more about how Test matches are played, visit Betwala.
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