- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
COVID scare hit the ongoing Twenty20 international series between Sri Lanka and India on Tuesday (27) as the second match which was scheduled to be played at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium got halted after India all-rounder Krunal Pandya tested positive. The match was set to be played on Wednesday (28).
India are leading the three-game series 1-0 after winning the first match by 38 runs on Sunday (25). Pandya took one wicket for 16 runs in two overs in that game besides scoring three not out.
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Sources told PTI that eight Indian players who were in proximity with Pandya are being isolated. Two of them are Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav who are set to join the Indian squad which is currently touring England. If the duo test positive, then they may miss the England series. They were picked as reinforcements after Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar were ruled out due to injuries.
Rishabh Pant tests Covid positive ahead of England Tests
The home team needs to win the second game to stay alive in the CoinDCX Cup, which is being sponsored by a company dealing with cryptocurrency and bitcoins – a first in the sub-continent. India beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in a three-match one-day international (ODI) series before the T20s.
Players of both India and Sri Lanka are in a bio bubble and players will be isolated as per standards protocols. The ODI series was also postponed because of Covid outbreak in the home team’s camp. Sri Lanka’s batting coach Grant Flower and data analyst G T Niroshan had tested positive for the virus after returning from a tour of England.
Recently, India wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant also tested positive in England, which overshadowed his chances of taking part in the five-Test series starting August 4.
