It is now known that Rishabh Pant is the Indian player who was found COVID positive. This means that everyone who was in close contact with him had to be put in isolation. It includes bowling coach B Arun, second wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha and reserve opener Abhimanyu Easwaran. All these players are now under quarantine.
Furthermore India’s bowling throwdown specialist Dayanand Garani has also been affected by COVID. He was found positive in a RT-PCR test on 14 July. Just like Pant, he has also been put in isolation. All these incidents will surely hamper India’s preparation for the upcoming test series of 5 games against England.
In further developments India is scheduled to play a practice match against select County 11 from July 20. Hence Pant and every player who is under quarantine will not participate in the match. No doubt that it would leave Pant devoid of much needed match practice.
Now, the reason due to which Pant was affected by COVID is also all but confirmed. Actually the wicket keeper batsman visited a dentist in London on July 5 and 6. In all likelihood this is the spot from where he could have been infected by the Virus. Interestingly on the next day which was 7th July, all the Indian players were given the second dose of vaccine making them fully vaccinated.
A dentist visit might be the reason!
However on 8th of July, Pant was found positive in an RT-PCR test. One more possible reason for Pant getting infected is that he visited a football match in the Euro Cup at Wembley stadium which was too crowded.
Earlier Jay Shah the BCCI secretary had sent a letter to every player of the team through an e-mail. In the letter he warned about the impending danger of COVID and advised all the players to take extra precautions. Furthermore the secretary has asked the team players to avoid going to places that could be crowded.
Now with Pant getting positive, the BCCI has arranged the system of LTF ( lateral Flow Tests) for the Indian players and their families. According to the BCCI, it will help in mitigating the risk of COVID in the team.
