Rishabh Pant tests positive for COVID-19, undergoing home quarantine

An unnamed player from the UK bound Indian cricket squad has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been put under home isolation. As per reports in the Indian Express, the player is self-isolating himself at a relative's place and is expected to join the rest of the team members after serving his mandatory quarantine. The whole Indian squad barring that particular player will join the bio-bubble back on Thursday in Durham. 

As per sources close to Indian Express, the player experienced a sore throat which led to a PCR test and it returned positive. The members of the Indian contingent who were deemed close contact of the affected individual were already kept in isolation for three days and have completed their quarantine without showing any symptoms. 

In another development, a source told ANI that two players tested positive for the virus and one has already returned a negative test report after testing positive. 

If reports in the PTI is to be believed, Rishabh Pant is the player who has been affected by the virus and is currently undergoing self-isolation at his sister's place. He was present during the Euro Cup match involving Germany and England on June 30 and also posted pictures on his Instagram handle. 

“He is in quarantine at an acquaintance’s place and won’t be travelling with the team to Durham on Thursday, “ a BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI. 

“Luckily, there is nothing to worry as one of the players has already returned negative since testing positive, the other player will be tested on Sunday and is currently in isolation. He is asymptomatic as well and we are confident that he can join the camp soon after negative reports,” a source told ANI.

It has been testing times for England and the Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after they were forced to name a whole new squad against the touring Pakistan side after three players and four support staff who played in the series against Sri Lanka tested positive for the deadly virus. 

While the second-string new-look England team blanked Pakistan 3-0 but the situation in England is getting trickier with each day and there hasn’t been any answer as to how the virus breached through the bubble. Even the remaining T20 Blast matches involving Derbyshire have also been called off after the ECB understood that it was impossible for them to field an XI with so many players injured and forced into self-isolation. 

“We have been mindful that the emergence of the Delta variant, along with our move away from the stringent enforcement of biosecure environments, could increase the chances of an outbreak. We made a strategic choice to try to adapt protocols, in order to support the overall wellbeing of our players and management staff who have spent much of the last 14 months living in very restricted conditions,” ECB chief executive Tom Harrison had said in his statement. 

It must be noted that Sri Lanka was in England for an ODI and a T20I series very recently. Upon arrival in Sri Lanka, batting coach Grant Flower and data analyst GT Niroshan tested positive for the virus forcing Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and BCCI to postpone the series by 5 days. The series will now start from 18th July instead of 13th July. 

Meanwhile, the Indian bound squad who is currently in England is enjoying their time out of the bio-bubble. They were allowed by the BCCI to leave the bubble following the ICC World Test Championship final against England. They are supposed to join the bubble back in mid-July with the first Test of the five-match Test series slated to kick off on 4th August. Some of the players were seen during the Euro Cup matches and in Wimbledon which could be a potential reason behind the player testing positive.