Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Thursday that hitting goalie Rishabh Pant and coaching assistant Dayanand Garani of the Indian cricket team tested positive for COVID19. Additionally, hitting goalie Wriddhiman Saha, bowling coach Bharath Arun and substitute player Abhimanyu Easwaran were quarantined because they were considered close contacts of Garani. Although Pant tested positive on July 8 and was not at the team hotel at the time, Gallani tested positive after RTPCR testing at the hotel on July 14. Garani, Arun, Saha, and Easwaran have been quarantined for 10 days and will remain in the hotel rooms of the London team.
The aforementioned players and staff will not be going to Durham for practice matches with the team. This means that both Pant and Saha will miss the practice match against County XI on July 20 at Durham Riverside.
The Indian test team arrived in England for over a month before the world test in the June finals. After the finals, team members had a three-week break, BCCI said.
“Pant did not check into the team hotel during halftime and tested positive on July 8. He is asymptomatic and is currently self-isolating at the location where he reported positive,” BCCI said in a statement.
“He is being closely monitored by the BCCI Medical Team and is on his way to recovery. He will be able to join the squad in Durham after returning two negative RT-PCR tests.”
“To mitigate any further risks, the Indian contingent is taking the Lateral Flow Test on a daily basis,” BCCI said.
The spate of COVID-19 cases in the team comes with just over a fortnight to go for the first Test at Trent Bridge that begins on August 4.
Pant, who had taken his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on May 13, ahead of the team’s departure to England, was seen watching a football match during Euro 2020.
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