Eight Members Of The Indian Contingent Identified As Close Contacts After Krunal Pandya Tests COVID-19 Positive

With Krunal Pandya testing positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, the Indian team has been rocked at the fag end of the tour. Krunal Pandya tested positive for the deadly virus hours before the second T20I in Colombo. It indeed came as a shock as all the players stayed within the bubble in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, eight members of the contingent have emerged as a close contact of Pandya.

BCCI confirmed via Twitter that Krunal Pandya tested positive in the rapid antigen conducted in the morning. According to ESPN Cricinfo, all eight members are part of the Indian contingent. Thus, all those players underwent another round of COVID-19 tests to identify more infected cases, if any. The second T20I, as per the revised schedule, will occur on the 28th, and the final one on the 29th.

Fortunately, Sri Lanka has reported no COVID-19 positive case as yet and they will undergo the test on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Krunal has to remain in isolation; however, it is unclear whether the rest eight members also have to do the same. The spin-bowling all-rounder played the first two ODIs and the opening T20I.

Krunal Pandya’s COVID-19 positive test could affect the travel plans of Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw:

Moreover, with Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav set to join India’s Test squad in England, their plans lie in jeopardy. But the BCCI remains optimistic of the rest of the members testing negative for COVID-19 and their travel plans would not suffer any disruption.

“We have to wait for the Covid test results that may come later in the day. Hopefully, everyone will come out negative and the rest of the T20I series and the departure of Suryakumar and Shaw too can be met as per the schedule,” a source claimed.

Also Read: Reports: Ashwell Prince To Remain Bangladesh Batting Consultant Till The 2021 T20 World Cup