KKR-RCB match off after 2 players test positive; 3 CSK staff infected
With half of IPL 2021 done, franchises want the tournament to continue despite COVID-19 scare
NEW DELHI: A COVID-19 outbreak left the star-sprinkled IPL on tenterhooks as Kolkata Knight Riders’ Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier tested positive for the dreaded virus, forcing postponement of their game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, while cases also came to light in the Chennai Super Kings camp.
The match, which was to be held in Ahmedabad this evening, will be rescheduled some time later during the tournament, which will conclude on May 30.“Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were found to be positive in the third round of testing in the last four days. All other team members have tested negative for COVID-19,” the league, which features the biggest names in international cricket, said in a press release.
Apart from this, Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan, bowling coach L Balaji and a bus cleaner with the contingent tested positive on Sunday. A top BCCI official, after declaring all three cases to be “false positives”, later clarified that Balaji along with the unnamed cleaner had come out positive even in the repeat test.
“Three members of CSK contingent, CEO Kasi, bowling coach L Balaji and a bus driver had tested positive in the morning followed by negative Rapid Antigen test report,” the source said. “However second RT-PCR report found Balaji and bus driver positive again. The others in the team especially playing members have tested negative,” he added.
CSK, currently based in Delhi, suspended their training for the day and are scheduled to face Rajasthan Royals on May 5. The team had been hit by COVID cases even in the 2020 edition which was held in the UAE. There was cause of concern in Delhi too as a few groundsmen at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, which is due to host Mumbai Indians vs SunRisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, have also tested positive for the virus. However, Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) chief Rohan Jaitley asserted that “none of the groundsmen on duty” are among them.
The BCCI continued to insist that the league will go on but Monday’s developments have definitely cast a shadow on how the COVD-19 threat would be managed for an event being staged across six venues -- two at one time.
Leg-spinner Chakravarthy and pacer Warrier, both 30, have been isolated and the rest of the KKR contingent has returned negative reports for now. Of the two, Warrier has not yet made the playing XI in any of the seven matches KKR have played.
Players, especially overseas recruits, are edgy following the emergence of two COVID-19 cases in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp on Monday, but franchises feel that the IPL should continue despite the ever-increasing threat of the raging pandemic.
Questions are being raised on how a strict bio-bubble, created for the T20 league, was breached after KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier got infected with the deadly virus. Foreign players, who were already anxious about getting home with travel restricted from India, are more worried.
“There is no going back now with half of the tournament done. The news of positive cases in KKR makes the BCCI’s job more challenging,” a franchise official told
PTI. “We have been hearing that a player got infected because he was taken outside the bubble for scans. So, it could have happened outside the bubble. As far as I know, everyone is strictly following the protocols laid out by the BCCI,” added the official.
Another franchise official said that the tournament should continue as long as other teams are not affected by the virus. “Even if you have to pause the tournament, how long can you hold back? The only way is to keep isolating the positive cases and keep playing. The players are naturally anxious now but it is mainly because they are not sure about how they would get back home,” said the official.
UK, Australia and New Zealand have banned travellers from India and a sizable number of players competing in the IPL are from these countries. “We should let the BCCI decide what is best for all of us. Flooding it with too many opinions on what should be done, following the cases at KKR, would only lead to more confusion,” said another top official of a team.
Five-time champion Mumbai Indians (MI) has been testing its players and support staff on a daily basis and the other teams are likely to follow suit. A former India player, competing in the league, summed it up aptly.
“There is a lot of anxiety among players. We are being tested every second day but looking at the situation in the country, you are always scared about what is next in case you test positive,” he said. “We are hanging in there, but you just cannot negate the fear factor,” he added.
Even if you have to pause the tournament, how long can you hold back? The only way is to keep isolating the positive cases and keep playing A franchise official