DC PHYSIO TESTS COVID POSITIVE & ISOLATED, PLAYERS AWAIT RESULTS

MUMBAI: Covid-19 hit the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday when Delhi Capitals (DC) physio Patrick Farhart became the first to test positive.

“Delhi Capitals physio Patrick Farhart has been tested positive for COVID-19. He is being closely monitored by the DC Medical Team (sic) at the moment,” stated an official IPL release. Farhart will need to quarantine for at least a week.

DC’s scheduled practice session at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday evening was cancelled after Farhart’s result came in.

“The team members have been asked to isolate in their hotel rooms. They had an optional training session. The buses were supposed to leave at 5pm but they all have been asked to wait,” said an official monitoring the developments.

DC players and support staff were tested on Friday morning as part of mandatory pre-match protocol. “They (IPL medical team) will wait till all the tests are in and then decide whether everyone can come out and have a round of retesting,” the official said.

DC last played on

Sunday against Kolkata Knight Riders

(KKR). They are scheduled to play Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday. DC had a training session on Thursday evening with the franchise tweeting pictures of captain Rishabh Pant, David

Warner, Prithvi Shaw and Axar Patel, among others in their playing XI, at nets.

In 2021 when, during the second wave, the tournament was held in four cities in India, the IPL governing council had to suspend the league after Covid-19 breached bio-secure bubbles. After a couple of cases in the KKR camp postponed their game against RCB, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and DC too reported cases. The season eventually resumed in the UAE in September.