Kovid confirmed to Yogesh Palmer, a junior physio, a member of the support staff, when the results of the tests were released on Wednesday evening. Kovid confirmed to Palmer that all the players in the Indian team had been tested. The result has not been released. Indications are that the final decision on the test will be made only after this comes out. ESPN Cricinfo reported that the Indian team members were not instructed to stay at the hotel until the results came out.
Meanwhile, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said he did not know if the Manchester Test would take place. “It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. Ganguly was speaking at the launch of his book ‘Mission Domination’ in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, if any of the players’ upcoming results are positive, it will affect not only the Manchester Test starting tomorrow, but also the second quarter of the IPL, which starts on September 19, five days after the England series. According to the current decision, the Indian players will return to Dubai from Manchester on September 15 to participate in the IPL.
Kovid was first confirmed by India’s head coach Ravi Shastri as a threat to the Indian camp. Ravi Shastri’s Kovid affliction confirmed by BCCI on the fourth day of India’s Oval Test with a 157 – run victory over England. On the fourth day, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar were also diagnosed with Kovid. Now with the confirmation of the disease by one more support staff, the number of Kovid victims in the Indian camp has quadrupled.
India, who won the Oval Test to take a 2-1 lead in the series, are looking forward to their first Test series win on English soil since 2007. While the confidence to lead the series has helped India, the fact that India’s record at Manchester is not so good does not bode well for Virat Kohli and his team.
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