No one got Covid at launch: Shastri
London, Sept. 18: India head coach Ravi Shastri says he has no regrets about organising the book launch, which was widely perceived to be the reason for a Covid-19 outbreak that forced the cancellation of the fifth Test against England in Manchester.
Shastri, fielding coach R. Sridhar, bowling coach Bharath Arun and physio Nitin Patel were found infected during the Oval Test and when junior physio Yogesh Parmar’s test came positive ahead of the fifth Test in Manchester, the game was controversially called off with India leading the series 2-1.
There were reports of people not wearing masks at the event.
“I have absolutely no regrets because the people I met at that function were fabulous. And it was good for the boys to get out and meet different people rather than constantly being in their rooms,” said Shastri in an interview to The Guardian.
“At the Oval Test, you were climbing stairs used by 5,000 people. So to point a finger at a book launch?” he asked.
“...but I wasn’t worried because incubation probably takes weeks. There were about 250 people there and no-one got Covidfrom that party.”
Talking about his time in isolation, Shastri said: “It was funny because in my 10 days, I didn’t have a single symptom barring a little sore throat. I never had any temperature and my oxygen level was 99 per cent all the time.
“I didn’t take any medication through 10 days of my isolation, not a single paracetamol. I tell the guys: ‘Once you’re double jabbed, it’s a bloody 10day flu. That’s it’.” Asked if he was made the scapegoat in the aftermath of the abandoned Test, Shastri said the truth was otherwise.
“I’ve not got it at my book launch because it was on the 31st (August) and I tested positive on 3 September. It can’t happen in three days. I think I got it in Leeds. England opened up on
19 July and suddenly the hotels were back, lifts were back. No restrictions.”
T20 SERIES SHOULD
GO FOOTBALL WAY
Shastri also strongly feels that bilateral T20 series should be reduced to ease the relentless international calendar. “I would like to see less and less bilateral T20 cricket. Look at football. You have the Premier League, the Spanish league and they all come together (for the Champions League). There are few bilateral football (friendlies) now.” He said skipper Virat Kohli and other India players also share his view on the subject.