Team India head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar have all returned positive in their RT-PCR tests for the global pandemic COVID-19. However, they will all undergo isolation now and are only be allowed to come out after returning two negative results.
With this, they will also miss the Manchester Test which will begin on September 10 to 14. While speaking to ANI, sources have confirmed that the trio has returned positive results to their RT-PCR tests as well. Meanwhile, they all were sent to isolation as a precautionary measure after Shastri’s lateral flow test returned positive on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, their RT-PCR test results are positive and they will all need to undergo isolation and can come out only after returning two negative results,” the source said.
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However, the remaining members of Team India underwent two Lateral Flow Tests. While the first one was on Saturday night, another one took place on Sunday morning. And, after returning with negative COVID reports they were allowed to proceed for Day 4 in the ongoing fourth Test against England at The Oval as well.
“Of course, we are missing Ravi bhai massively. Ravi bhai, Bharat Arun, and R Sridhar have been an extremely important part of this setup, they have done well in the past five-six years and they have played a major role in the team doing well. This is what it is, they are not here. In the morning, it was a bit of a distraction, we had a word and we decided we need to focus on the cricket. We are here for this series, and I think the boys did well to not get distracted. There was a potential we could have been distracted, the credit needs to go to the boys for the way they handled themselves,” said Vikram Rathour during a virtual press conference on Sunday.
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“Ravi bhai felt ill on Saturday night around 8 PM. He was having a little bit of discomfort yesterday, the medical team decided to go for a lateral flow test and it came out positive and that is when we all found that he is positive. The close contacts were identified and isolated so we will wait for the medical team to tell us when they can join back,” he concluded.
