Indian Player On England Tour Quarantined After Testing Positive For Covid-19; Will Miss Warm-Up Match Against County Championship XI

One player of India‘s contingent in England has returned with a Covid-19 positive result — and has been immediately placed in isolation. The player remains unnamed for now and will not travel with the rest of the squad to Durham, missing out on the three-day warm-up match against a County Championship XI team from July 20.

This comes in after the entire contingent is about to complete their 3-week break from the bio-bubble.

“Yes, one of the players has tested positive although he is largely asymptomatic currently. He is in quarantine at an acquaintance’s place and won’t be travelling with the team to Durham on Thursday,” a BCCI source told PTI.

The report added that the player “has been afflicted by the Delta variant” for which England has seen a surge in cases in the past weeks.

Earlier it was also learned that BCCI secretary Jay Shah has sent an email to the management in England warning them about the rising cases of COVID-19 in England. He told the players to “avoid” crowded places as the Covishield vaccine only provides protection and not full immunity against the virus.

The first round of testing was conducted on July 10 and the second round on July 14. It’s understood that the Indian player’s positive result was confirmed after the first round.

Virat Kohli’s side is due to take on hosts England in a 5-Test series starting August 4 at Trent Bridge.

Covid-19 cases in England have been on a rise. Earlier in the month, 7 members of England’s white-ball contingent had tested positive for the same. The entire group was then placed in quarantine just a couple of days before their ODI series against Pakistan.

The ECB was forced to name a completely new squad for the 3-match ODI series, which they won 3-0, as a second-string England team, captained by Ben Stokes, thumped Babar Azam’s team.

India are coming off the WTC final loss to New Zealand; Joe Root’s team also suffered a series loss – their first at home since 2014 – by the same opposition.

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