SRH star T Natarajan tested positive for Covid-19; IPL games to continue still

The 14th edition of the IPL was postponed in May due to a Covid-19 outbreak in multiple team bio-bubbles. About four months later, the remaining of the IPL matches is going on in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but there has been an outbreak of Covid-19 again. According to an official IPL release, Sunrisers Hyderabad fast bowler T Natarajan has been tested positive in the scheduled Covid-19 test.

Natarajan is currently asymptomatic and in isolation from the rest of the squad, six more people from Hyderabad camp who came in contact with him were also placed in isolation. The six close contacts are Vijay Shankar (player), G Periyaswamy (net bowler), Vijay Kumar (team manager), Shyam Sundar (physiotherapist), Anjana Vannan (doctor), and Tushar Khedkar (logistics manager).

The entire squad, including six who came in contact with Natarajan, underwent RT-PCR tests at around 5 am local time on Wednesday and all the results were returned negative. As a result, yesterday’s match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad went ahead as per schedule.

However, the BCCI has warned all teams that while on the team bus for training sessions, all support staff and players would be required to wear face masks. At the same time, the board also emphasized the need for team management and players to adhere to social distancing everywhere they go.

A BCCI official disclosed that they are trying to find out how it happened and whether there was any breach, as the players are all in bio-bubble and Natarajan underwent 6 days of isolation before joining the side, and it’s difficult to tell from where he get infected by the virus.

The second leg of the IPL 2021 has started in the UAE last Saturday. Due to the Covid-19 situation in India, the BCCI has also shifted out the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to UAE and Oman. The tournament will commence on October 17 after the end of the IPL 2021. So the news of the Covid-19 case in the IPL camp before the start of the ICC tournament is now a cause for some concern.

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