Blow for Team India: Pant tests +ve in UK
Pant and throwdown specialist get Covid; Saha, Easwaran and bowling coach Arun in isolation
MUMBAI: The Indian squad’s three-week holiday in England may have been seen as a welcome breather by some, but it has proven costly for Team India. Five members of the contingent — three players and two support staff — are out of action after Rishabh Pant tested positive for Covid-19.
The team travelled to Durham on Thursday without its two first choice wicket-keepers, a batting reserve, a throwdown specialist, and the bowling coach. Along with Pant, one of the three throwdown specialists in the support staff, Dayananada Garani, has tested positive for Covid 19.
Wriddhiman Saha, opening batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran, and bowling coach Bharat Arun, have been forced to go into isolation as close contacts of Pant and Garani.
Pant, it is learnt, has completed eight days of isolation at a relative’s house in London. Garani tested positive this week. Arun is travelling with his family on the tour.
A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official, who did not wish to be named, said that allowing the players a vacation after the World Test Championship final last month was fraught with risk, but the decision was taken keeping “player welfare” in mind. Most Indian players on the England tour have spent months inside bio bubbles since September last year, with small breaks in between.
In January, during India’s tour of Australia, a fan tweeted pictures and videos of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Saini and Shubman Gill having a meal at a Sydney restaurant. He also claimed to have been hugged affectionately by Pant. While players were allowed to go out and eat in restaurants according to the Covid protocols in place in Sydney, they were not allowed to mingle with fans.
The BCCI, however, refuted that the players had violated rules.
This is an English summer that has been on a “knife edge”, as Ashley Giles, the English team’s managing director said after seven members of the England set up — three players and four staff — tested positive after their series against Sri Lanka earlier this month. It forced the entire team into isolation, and a new squad team with nine uncapped players was announced for their three-match ODI series against Pakistan.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan cricket board recalled three of their players from the tour of UK after they were found in breach of the bio-bubble protocols.
The UK has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases this month. On July 15, more than 48,000 people tested positive, up from around 3,000 in early June (though hospitalisation and death rates remain low). The new surge is being caused by the Delta variant, which was first identified in India, but the government has gone ahead with a phased lifting of restrictions as more than 50% of its population has received both vaccine doses.
During the break, while some Indian players decided to stay in London and remain indoors, a few others ventured out to explore Scotland. Some players and support staff went out to watch the Euro 2020 and Wimbledon matches, where full attendance was permitted.
Pant posted a picture on his Instagram of watching the June 29 England vs Germany match at Wembley. Head coach Ravi Shastri and Ravichandran Ashwin were at Wimbledon. This week, Ashwin became the only member of India’s touring party to get some cricket under his belt, playing a four-day county game for Surrey.
After Pant’s positive result came to light, BCCI secretary Jay Shah rushed a letter to the team asking them to avoid attending live sports events.
Indian players will continue to be tested at regular intervals in Durham where they will be playing a three-day practice game against a select country eleven on July 20.
Virat Kohli and his team are also slated to play an intra-squad match there before leaving for Nottingham on July 30. But a lot will depend upon safe and speedy recovery of those affected by and isolated due to the virus. The first of the five-test series starts at Trent Bridge on August 4. India has already lost opener Shubman Gill, who was ruled out of the tour with a shin injury.