After Rishabh Pant, Team India support staff member tests positive for COVID-19 - Report

The COVID-19 has set the alarm bells ringing in the Indian camp. Earlier today, the news of Rishabh Pant testing positive for COVID-19 shocked the Indian cricket fraternity and now reports of a support staff member contracting the virus are doing rounds. This is not great news, especially when the India-England series is under three weeks away.

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Pant, who was confirmed to have contracted the virus, will miss India’s warm-up fixture against select county XI starting from July 20 in Durham. The southpaw recently attended the Euro 2020 fixture between England and Germany at the Wembley Stadium in London.

A report in Indian Express confirmed that as many as three assistant coaches have been asked to quarantine after a support staff member tested positive for the virus. It is understood that none of them will travel to Durham for India’s warm-up fixture.

Earlier, BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla confirmed the reports of an Indian player testing positive for the virus. However, he revealed that all other members of the squad have returned negative result and are completely fine.

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“One player has been found positive, he was asymptomatic, I won’t disclose the name. He was not staying in the team hotel, he is staying with relatives and is recovering very well. He is in isolation, he was found positive 8 days back. He will be tested again after two days.”

“Team India is fine, there is no problem. Secretary Jay Shah has written a letter to team management everybody should follow the COVID protocols, strict measures whatever could be adopted as per the recommendations must be followed and all safety precautions should be taken and the team has to be very careful during the England tour,” he added.

The Delta Variant of COVID-19 has contributed to a spike in COVID-19 cases in England. Earlier, as many as seven members of the English contingent for the Sri Lanka series, including three players tested positive for COVID-19. Days later, Sri Lanka batting coach Grant Flower and data analyst GT Niroshan also returned positive results. The ECB is planning to host the India series in front of a full capacity crowd but the recent outbreak might force them to reconsider their plans.