Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of day 4 of the ongoing fourth test between India and England. Three other support staff members, who were in close contact with the head coach have also been kept in isolation. They have not tested positive but it is just a mere precautionary measure.
In an official statement, BCCI honorary secretary Jay Shah said, “The BCCI medical team has isolated Ravi Shastri, head coach, B. Arun, bowling Coach, R. Sridhar, fielding coach and Nitin Patel, physiotherapist as a precautionary measure after Shastri’s lateral flow test returned positive last evening.
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“They have undergone RT-PCR testing and shall remain in the team hotel and not travel with Team India until confirmation from the medical team.”
“The remaining members of the Team India contingent underwent two lateral flow tests – one last night and another this morning. The members upon returning negative COVID reports were allowed to proceed for Day 4 of the ongoing fourth Test at The Oval,” the statement added.
Ravi Shastri testing positive might have serious consequences for Team India’s hopes of winning the ongoing test series against England. We all remember what happened when a single player, Krunal Pandya, tested positive for COVID-19 during India’s recent tour to Sri Lanka. The blues were in a winning position in that T20 series but Pandya’s testing positive led to many main team players being quarantined. Rahul Dravid ths had to use his young players, many of whom had not even debuted for the national team, and Team India went on to lose both the remaining matches by a huge margin. The Indian test team thus needs to be cautioned.
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