The Indian cricket team’s head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli are unlikely to be questioned over their attending functions after the former, along with bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar, tested positive for COVID-19. “Covid-19 is something that can happen to anyone. Besides, the United Kingdom government has removed restrictions and opened movement. So, people are allowed to move freely,” said a top Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official to news agency IANS.
The trio will miss attending the fifth and final Test to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester from September 10 to 14. The lockdown in England had ended in July while India were playing the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton.
The team members, during the period after the WTC final, had visited Wimbledon and Euro 2020 matches. Rishabh Pant had tested positive immediately after returning from watching a Euro 2020 match.
Over the past few days, in the lead-up to the fourth Test at The Oval, Shastri had attended functions, including the one in which his book was launched. Kohli was also present at the book launch.
Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar have all returned positive results to their RT-PCR tests for COVID-19. They are undergoing isolation and can come out only after returning two negative results.
Speaking to news agency ANI, sources in the know of developments confirmed that the trio has returned positive results to their RT-PCR tests. “Unfortunately, their RT-PCR test results are positive and they will all need to undergo isolation and can come out only after returning two negative results,” the source said.
Just half an hour before the start of play on Day 4 of the fourth Test at the Oval, the BCCI said its medical team had isolated Shastri, Bharat Arun, Sridhar, and physio Nitin Patel as a precautionary measure after Shastri's lateral flow test returned positive on Saturday evening.
(with agency inputs)
