A cricket official told AFP on Thursday that India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has tested positive for Covid-19 as the team prepared for a Test series in England.
The Indian team, led by captain Virat Kohli, is now in London, but will enter a bio-secure bubble later Thursday and go for Durham for a tour match next week. The first Test begins on August 4 in Nottingham.
“Pant has tested positive and will not travel to Durham with the rest of the team,” an unnamed cricket official told AFP, before adding that a member of the squad’s support staff had also tested positive.
Pant, who is 23 years old, has been in quarantine for the past week, according to the official. Pant shared photos from a Euro 2020 football match on his social media platforms last month.
The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jay Shah, recently advised cricketers in England to “avoid” congested venues such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament and European football championships.
After losing to New Zealand in the World Test Championship final last month, India’s team stayed in England.
After a 20-day break, the players will regroup for a five-match series against England, which will kick off the second World Test Championship.
England, which was also infected with the virus, used a second-string team, led by Ben Stokes, to beat Pakistan 3-0 in a one-day international series.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has cautioned that the new domestic Hundred competition in England, as well as the India series, could be jeopardized if the British government’s present quarantine and isolation laws are maintained.
“Unless the isolation laws change, I fear for the 100 and the Indian Test series,” Vaughan tweeted…we are destined to have incidents like @RishabhPant17.
“Plus, I’m afraid the Ashes could be severely harmed if bubbles/quarantine rules don’t adjusted!”
