- Wednesday, May 08, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
RAVI Shastri, the head coach of the Indian cricket team currently touring England, tested Covid positive on Saturday (4) evening in London and has subsequently been placed in isolation in the team hotel by the medical team of the Indian cricket board “as a precautionary measure”.
Along with the 59-year-old former India cricketer, other coaching staff members including Bharat Arun (bowling), R Shridhar (fielding) and physiotherapist Nitin Patel were also put into isolation.
“They have undergone RT-PCR testing and shall remain in the team hotel and not travel with Team India until confirmation from the medical team,” a statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Sunday (5), less than half an hour before the start of play of the fourth day of the ongoing fourth Test match between England and India at The Oval.
ALSO READ: Openers help India take healthy lead over England
“The remaining members of the Team India contingent underwent two lateral flow tests – one last night and another this morning. The members upon returning negative Covid reports were allowed to proceed for Day 4 of the ongoing fourth Test at The Oval,” the statement added.
According to ESPNCricinfo, Yogesh Parmar, the second physiotherapist travelling with the team will be with the squad at the Oval in the absence of Desai and cater to the players needing any aid.
India’s first Test win in England and an elephant and a horse
On the live broadcast, as the camera showed the Indian dressing room, former England captain Nasser Hussain said, “The players are absolutely fine, but four of the backroom staff, including their influential coach, Ravi Shastri, are not here. We wish you well, all of you.”
Members of the Indian national team have had to deal with several cases of Covid-related incidents in recent times and for Arun, this is the second time that he has gone into isolation after reaching England. In July, he, along with players Wriddhiman Saha and Abhimanyu Easwaran went to quarantine for 10 days for being close contacts of training assistant and net bowler Dayanand Garani, who tested Covid positive.
Rishabh Pant, who has played all four Tests so far as the first-choice wicket-keeper, had also tested Covid positive.
Another Indian team that went to play a couple of limited-over series in Sri Lanka, also faced Covid-related issues as several players had to go into isolation after coming into contact with all-rounder Krunal Pandya who tested positive.
Meanwhile, India put up a strong batting performance in their second innings at the Oval by taking their lead over the hosts to over 200.
